We could be heroes (just for one day)
by loboselina
Summary: 15 years ago Emma Ruth Nolan was born and kidnapped within hours of birth and her birth family is fractured to breaking point. 15 years later when Emma is found to be alive, not dead as suspected, how will she adjust to having her family, and can Mary Margaret and David be a family again? In a world of superpowers will their family reunion be easier or will it tear them apart?
1. Chapter 1

Storybrooke was a small neighbourhood in the city of Hyperion Heights and by all accounts it was a quiet neighbourhood, it was full of young families and retirees, a place where people were born and raised and when they were old enough they would escape it to find something more , eventually though they would always find their way back to Storybrooke though, whether it be to have their own families or if it was to die in the same place they were born.

It was a place where superheroes and supervillains alike ignored and they did not come from there, simply because neither would come from somewhere quite so boring.

Of course many people had some low level powers; the pharmacist who always poured the correct amount of pills into his hand without having to correct an error, a fisherman who fish flocked to when he whistled, a woman who believed she had no powers but was still alive for her 150th birthday and was particularly good at Gin Rummy, the six year old who was four grades better at mathematics than he was supposed to be despite only just learning numbers, and the baker who never burnt any pies but always burnt bread.

No, nothing bad ever happened in Storybrooke.

So when Mary Margaret and David found themselves pregnant at the young age of eighteen they put off their escapes to colleges in more exciting places to stay at the local college and live in the house which had once been Mary's mother's, they married, and eighteen months later they were in the hospital once more.

David had always been strong, more so than others, it had always been helpful growing up on a farm, but even he winced as his wife squeezed his hand as she screamed and pushed.

Outside the windows windows birds gathered, singing and screaming along with Mary Maragret, who had always been able to communicate with them, they heard her pain and fear and joy, and would be prepared to sing good news to each other, or to attack what scared Mary, should she give them the word.

"One last push." The nurse promised, her voice sounded like a song even if she spoke normally, and David and Mary felt their fear almost completely wash away.

Two hours later and David was squeezed on the hospital bed beside his wife in his arms was their newborn baby girl, cleaned and in a baby grow and not long fed she looked at them with greyish/bluish eyes, they both looked down at her with the same amazement they had shared when their son had been born.

"She's perfect."

Mary's lips tugged into a smile at the way his voice was soft but nearly broke at the start of the word perfect. He was right, of course, the same way he had been right when he had said the same thing looking at newborn baby Neal nearly two years previously. She loved him all the time, but she especially loved him in this moment, she loved seeing how in love with his kids he was nearly to breaking point, she loved him. "She is." She ran the back of her finger down the baby's cheek, the skin was soft and warm under it, her cheek twitched as the baby let out a small hiccup in return.

"What should we call her?"

"Emma."

"Emma?" He echoed trying out the name in his mouth. "It's perfect. What do you think Emma? Do you like that name?" The baby wiggled slightly in David's arms. "I think we have a winner." He grinned that carefree smile at his wife which always made her knees go weak and had resulted in their two children in less than two years.

"Emma Ruth Nolan."

David sucked in a breath, he felt a lump form in his throat, and he could see tears threatening to fall in the bottom of his eyes. "Are you- are you sure? We could name her after your mom?"

"Your mom did a lot for us, anyway Neal already has Ezra after my grandfather, we need your family names to be passed down too."

David didn't have the words to express what it meant to him, so he kissed her instead, slowly and gently, he had seen her give birth not long ago and was scared of hurting her, even if that fear was not logical. "You astound me, Mary Margaret Hannah Nolan."

She let out a small laugh and rolled her eyes, she scrubbed one of her hands over her face as though trying to hide, she let out a small groan. "I look like a mess, I just had a baby, and I get to leave this place in a diaper ." She pointed out with a grin.

David tilted his head to the side, he was holding the baby carefully but his attention was currently on his wife, purely out of confusion. "Snow," he said using her nickname, "you are so beautiful. You amaze me, my love, especially now."

Mary was about to make another joke but her eyes were stuck looking into his. She could see the love shining out of the stormy sea blue eyes as clearly as she would be able to see lightning. "I love you."

"I love you more."

"Impossible."

Eventually David passed the baby, Emma , over to Mary Margaret and got ready to leave. "I'll be back as soon as Granny lets me finally leave." He said for the millionth time.

"I know, go, don't worry we'll be fine, and I want our family together, all of us, for the first time."

David smile, he leant down and kissed her again. "I know, me too. Neal is going to be over the moon."

"If the books we read stuck with him, otherwise he'll be expecting me to do this every Friday."

David chuckled and kissed his wife again, there was no containing his smile, he hadn't been able to stop since the second he heard his daughter's cry. He carefully kissed the top of Emma's head where some darkened hair was stuck up like ducklings' feathers, he was glad he had time to shave that morning before Mary Margaret had started to go into labour. He was terrified of hurting her, or being the reason for her crying. He hesitated before leaving, he didn't know why, he wanted his son there as much as Mary did but there was just something in the back of his head whispering for him to stay. He ignored it, he wouldn't be gone for long.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

The nurse seemed surprised to see Mary Margaret still awake and staring down at Emma who was now in the clear plastic crib. The nurse had red hair, not ginger 'red', no her hair was scarlet, and it looked like it was natural, or it would if that were not biologically impossible, and a shock of freckles splattered on her face, otherwise she was unremarkable, average.

"It's time for Emma's tests." She stalked silently to the crib and fished Emma out into her own arms.

"Why?" Her green eyes widened in worry. "Is she okay?"

"It's nothing to worry about all just standard things, she was born a couple of months early so we have to do a few more tests. And she wasn't given her hearing test yet. I'm sure she's absolutely perfect."

The kindness in the nurse's smile was enough for the exhausted mother to let out a small, relieved sigh.

"I'll bring her back when we're all done with her hearing test and the other ones. You should get some rest while you can, I have a feeling you'll be needing it."

Mary nodded her head and leant back against the hospital bed, certain even as she watched her baby being carried out that she would stay wide awake.

She lasted all of five minutes before succumbing to sleep.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

David arrived back at the hospital ladened with his toddler son and with bags, some were of things they had forgotten to pack into the hospital bag, but most were stuffed with food and treats from Granny, the grandmother of their friend Ruby who they had known since they had turned into teenagers half a decade previously.

"Mama!" Neal shouted wiggling in David's arms as soon as he caught sight of her sleeping reclined against the upright bed and a couple of pillows. David chuckled, he shouldn't be surprised, Neal had always been a mama's boy, David was fine with that, he wondered if Emma would take after Neal or if they'd have one each.

Like a kiss from a fairytale Mary Margaret awoke hearing her son's voice. Her eyes were glued shut with sleep but even before she managed to pry them open she was smiling. Neal was pretty good at talking, he seemed to hesitate to consider them so they would come out clearer, but Mary was certain one of these days her son would come out with a complex sentence he had been saving for precisely the right moment. She held her arms open towards Neal in David's arms, and David surrendered him.  
"Hello my sweetheart." She attacked his face with kissed as she finally woke fully herself, laughing as she heard his infectious laughter.

David was laughing at them too. He placed all the bags down on a side table and perched on the side of the bed watching them. When Mary stopped kissing her son she looked to her husband, tilting her head back expectantly.

David more than happily obliged. He kissed her slowly, carefully, not too deep. "How are you feeling? Are you in much pain?" His brows were furrowed in worry.

She cupped his cheek with the hand which wasn't hooked around Neal's stomach. "I'm okay, a little sore but I'll be fine. How was he?"

"Granny made sure he ate about twice as much as he usually does, but that's not surprising, Rubes took him out for a ride which he loved, but he loved the bath she gave him even more." The pride for his son shone out through his voice and through the sea blue eyes his son had inherited.

Mary gave a small giggle. "Granny does the same to us, sweetheart."

"There's about three tupperwear containers of meals and two of cakes and cookies in that bag." He nodded his head towards a heavy duty plastic bag for life. He said it flatly but he couldn't stop himself from smiling as they shared a look, they didn't have biological grandparents anymore, Granny had always been happy to step into that role.

Neal crawled over Mary and onto David, he cuddled up to him and David smiled, dropping a kiss onto the top of Neal's dark wavy hair. "I love you too, Squirt." He mumbled.

Neal placed his hand onto Mary's stomach, as he hand since they had explained that she was pregnant. "Hiya baby!"

"The baby's not in mommy anymore Neal," David explained gently, "it's baby Emma." He looked to his wife. "Is she in the nursery?"

Mary shook her head then hesitated. "Maybe; she was going for a hearing test and to have some others, nothing to worry about, just procedure, a nurse took her. Maybe they brought her back while I was sleeping and they took her to the nursery instead?" She suggested.

David was frowning neither of them had wanted her to go to the nursery, they wanted to be beside her all the time, they didn't want her stuck in a room without them. He stood with Neal in his arms ready to ask at the nurse's station or go to look through the nursery window at his daughter then ask for her to be brought back to his wife's room.

A nurse came into the room, her dark hair the same colour as her dark eyes which were full of kindness, as was the kind smile on her face. She had been on duty since just after Emma had been born, and had been there to help get Emma to latch on for her first feeding. Her name was Nina, she had told them, along with the other nurses, maybe she had been the nurse to take Emma to the nursery after the tests.

"Oh hello!" Her face lit up seeing Neal, and Mary Margaret didn't blame him, the toddler with his bright blue eyes and wavy dark hair always had a smile upon his face, she had nicknames David 'Charming' at their first meeting and Neal had certain lived up to that name. "Aren't you beautiful."

Neal grinned and waved his hand, David found it both cute and a little worrying that he had no fear whatsoever of strangers. He kissed Neal's cheek then smiled back at Nina. "Hey, erm Emma, our baby, our other baby I guess-"

"Yes!" She said as though suddenly remembering. "I came to take her for her hearing test, I know we didn't do it earlier."

David frowned in confusion. "No, no she was already taken for that while I was gone-"

Nina looked over at Mary, her face blank and calm. "Did you see the nurse? Do you remember their name?"

Mary frowned pushing herself upright and to her feet despite the pain and discomfort. She slowly shook her head. "No, she, she didn't give one. She had red hair, the colour of David's shirt, and erm, freckles, lots of freckles."

There was only a second of silence but in it Mary ran through the scenarios, she had not practiced Judaism since her mother had died but she began to silently beg G-d that Nina would laugh and say that she knows which nurse that was and that Emma was in fact in the nursery.

The colour drained from Nina's face.

Fear as cold and clear as a winter storm stood out against the nurse's dark brown eyes.

Mary Margaret noticed it.

Their worlds' flipped upside down.


	2. Chapter 2

**15 YEARS LATER:**

* * *

Neal Nolan was fizzing with excitement, like a bottle of coke mentos have just been dropped into a bottle of coke, he needed to leave their home now before he erupted and physically showed how happy he was. Normally he would be able to, but today? No, he couldn't today, it would feel wrong.

Neal packed and repacked his backpack: it was hard to know what to take, he didn't have actual lessons but he was planning on going to the library to study after the field trip he grabbed the world history and math books he had just unpacked, he already had a novel in there he had been reading on the subway but it was nearly finished, he would have to take another one too, incase he finished it and had nothing to read... and he had swim practice. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, where was his swim kit?

He span around hoping to catch sight of the blue swim bag he had been using for so long that it was starting to get holes in the bottom of it. But the floor was scattered with piles of books which wouldn't fit inside of his bookcases.

"Looking for this?"

He span towards the voice, his mother was stood in the doorway, hanging from her fingers being held upright was his swim bag: packed and ready. But that wasn't what made Neal stop. "You're up!" He didn't mean to say that, not out loud, but he had inherited that from his mother, she wouldn't hold that against him. "I mean-."

"I know." She interrupted, she closed the small amount of distance between the two of them, she handed him the swim bag and fussed over his hair which was out of place, it was clear that he had tried to tame it, but he had lost the fight with his waves. The same way David's hair had gone when he had tossed and turned during sleep. "You and your waves." She tutted fondly.

Everyone said that Neal looked like her, the same dark hair and the same chin, but when Mary Margaret looked at him she saw David. She tried not to let that hurt her.

Neal eventually moved his head away from her. He looked intently at her face, she was smiling softly at him trying to seem happy, but he knew her too well, he could see the sadness in her green eyes. "Mom?" His full question was unasked, but implied, she never went to work on this date every year.

She barely got out of bed.

She barely talked, mostly to talk to the cops who always told her the same news, or lack thereof.

They always told her that Emma was dead, they had buried her years ago, when Neal was four, he could barely remember it. Mary Margaret never accepted it. She could never accept that she had buried her daughter.

"I think," she said slowly, "it is time I try to move forward."

Neal felt a bitter taste in the back of his throat and the sting of tears in his eyes. He nodded his head in agreement pretended neither of those things were threatening to overwhelm him. Why was she only now deciding this? Why couldn't she have decided it ten or even twelve years ago? Why couldn't she have decided to be there when he needed his mom most? When David needed his wife? When five year old Neal covered his ears hearing his mommy and daddy arguing about 'moving forward'?

He took his swim bag and heaved his backpack over his shoulder, he gave his mom a quick smile. "I've gotta go, I'll be late."

"You haven't had breakfast." She frowned.

Neal almost laughed in surprise. All these years he wished that she could be like this on the week surrounding the 22nd of October, but now she was he couldn't help but resent it, it felt almost like too little too late. Instead he carried on smiling. "I'm not hungry, I'll pick something up on the way to school, I promise."

She wasn't happy with this decision but knew he didn't often lie. "Okay. Have fun on your trip. Oh!" She scrambled towards the side table across from his doorway for her wallet.

"Mom, I really gotta go." He moved out of his bedroom slowly trying to get passed her.

"Aha!" She fished out a $20 and handed it over. "Buy yourself a souvenir. Are you sure you don't need money for lunch."

"No mom, it's free. I really gotta go, I love you." He quickly planted a kiss on his mom's cheek.

"Have fun, be good, I love you!" She called after him.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

The journey to school was monotonous but Neal didn't mind, he had his headphones to listen to music and he had a book to read, he finished when he still had a few stops to go he shoved it into his backpack and pulled out his phone. As predicted he had a text from his dad. That wasn't unusual, David text him a couple of times a day when Neal was at home with Mary instead of in David's condo. But today he dreaded it.

His mom was in denial that his sister was dead, despite them burying her found bones when Neal was four, and David had moved on which would have been a relief to Neal had David not also moved on from Mary Margaret, from them . Neal always resented David for that, a little bit, or perhaps it was because he didn't take Neal with him, no matter how much David had tried to see him.

This text was the usual one he would send on the twenty second of October, every year.  
' I love you so much Neal, more than you'll ever know. I'm here if you need to talk or anything, especially today. I hope your mom's okay x' .  
Neal debated what to reply, whether to ask David how he was, but unlike Mary, David always seemed to keep everything inside Neal was sure David would say he was fine. Neal wondered if David had text Mary Margaret to ask her how she was, they got on a lot better than they had when they first divorced, but Neal knew that the subject of ' Emma ' was a touchy one between the two of them.

Luckily he didn't have to think up a response just yet, the subway chimed and the crackly voice came through announcing his stop, he didn't need it to tell him where he was, it was his third year at Storybrooke High he knew the route from his parents' places to the school like the back of his hand. He got off at his stop, still staring at his phone with music playing through his headphones, he immediately bumped into someone.

"Shit." He mumbled under his breath not looking up."Sorry" He went to walk away but the person's hand was on his shoulder, he looked up and saw the face of his best friend grinning widely at him, as though amused by Neal. He pulled his earbuds out and smiled back at Philip, PJ as he was better known.  
"Hey, sorry man, I thought you were just- wait what are you doing here so early?"

"I knew you'd be here early." PJ held up the two takeaway cups and a brown paper bag with the logo of a local cafe. "I figured I'd bribe you to help me with my physics work with breakfast."

"Sold." He accepted one of the cups it was filled with mango and pineapple ginseng tea. He hummed his appreciation as his face was struck by the chilly fall wind.

"The barista said your's helps with focus." PJ told him, making conversation as they walked.

The smile on his face showed his straight white teeth -it was infectious, and as invigorating as the cold fall wind. Neal smiled back at him. "It's good. Really good. Do you want some?"

PJ shrugged and took the cup, taking a long sip. "Shit, that is good. D'you want some of my coffee? It's mocha."

Neal pulled a face accepting his tea back. "That stuff'll rot you." He teased, he could live off tea, but would only drink coffee when he needed desperately to stay awake.

They reached the school and took their usual places in the library, the place had a few students around but it was quiet. They tucked into their breakfast, Neal was quieter than usual but PJ more than happily filled in the silence, and Neal was grateful for that and that he didn't ask Neal how he was, he knew that Neal didn't know how he felt.

They didn't get much studying done, after eating their breakfast bagels, in fact they got no studying at all done, instead they talked: about the new Star Wars movie Neal had watched with his dad, about Neal's swim meet the day before, about the lacrosse tryouts PJ had held and the new additions to the team.

They talked about some superheroes who had been in the news recently, about powers they wish they had, and about their futures, it was comfortable conversation they fell into often.

Soon they got registered in their homeroom then boarded the school bus, Neal had enough friends, people like PJ who he had known since he was young, and he had met some more during high school and from the swim team, but PJ was the clear star on the bus, and Neal knew why: PJ was smart, he was kind to everyone, he was good looking and funny, and he was the youngest captain of the lacrosse team, everyone wanted to be around him and talk to him… which was why he never understood why PJ always without fail sat beside Neal.

Neal shot back a text to his dad, as the bus filled with noise and some jocks started to joke around with PJ, saying that he loved him and that Mary Margaret had gone to work. He stared at the phone waiting for it to change to delivered then read, he kept expecting his dad to say something about that. But David didn't. Neal sighed. He must be busy. He felt eyes on him and turned to see Philip staring at him, he quickly searched his head wondering if PJ had spoken to him.

Philip didn't speak, he just kept giving him a soft tender smile, waiting to see if Neal chose to talk to him.

Neal gave a soft sigh, he kept his voice low when he spoke, thanks to his mom everyone one knew about Emma and that she thought Emma was alive but he didn't want everyone hearing his business. "My mom's gone to work today. She normally takes the day off, she told me she's moving on."

PJ thought for a moment. "That sucks, I mean it would have been better if she could have done that years ago, for you, hell even for your dad." He watched Neal nod but not look at him. "Are you upset about that or that she's moving on?"

He looked up at his best friend, his face scrunched up making him look exactly how Mary looked when she was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," PJ spoke slowly as though he was still thinking about it himself, "if your mom's moving on it means that your sister really is gone… if she's not giving up it means there's still a glimmer of hope that Emma's still alive."

Neal sighed again, slumping back against the hard bus seat, he slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, I mean, at least it would make the past fifteen years, of my parents being how they are, worth it. I don't know man…" He shook his head and gave PJ a weary look. "It doesn't matter, there's nothing I can do to change it, is there?"

"Sadly not." He bumped shoulders with him and gave him a smile. "At least we get to check out the sweet science today."

And just like that a smile appeared back on Neal's face.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

The field trip was to the Future Visions Industries a little outside of Hyperion Heights, their brand new building, it was the field trip of Neal's dreams. He had grown up watching old movies of his dad's Star Wars and Star Treks, anything and everything sci-fi, he had even inherited some really old comic books from his father's family from the days before the world had superheroes.

The place had everything, their tour guide explained leading the AP classes around, and they were right.

There was state of the art robotics, and they explained how they were engineering top of the line prosthetics, they showed them their labs designed to engineer equipment for superheroes and to stop super villains. As they made their way around Neal spotted more and more people working there using their powers, someone was using advanced speed to stir a slime like mixture, another scientist had her hands on either side of a glass bowl making the liquid inside heat and boil.

The genetic advancement lab was their stop before the canteen, Neal stared at PJ knowing it was the part he was most excited about, he wanted to be a doctor one day and this could help a whole load of people. Neal had to admit it was impressive, he listened to the speech but he was drawn to a water tank, he couldn't see any fish in it. He walked over peering close.

He had always been drawn to water, it had made sense when he realised that his power was being able to breathe for longer underwater, it hadn't come in handy for anything other than swimming for pleasure. Still he was drawn to it. He peered in, trying to find the fish he expected. He noticed the plaque which read ' Four genetically enhanced Swimming Spiders (Diving Bell Spiders ~ Argyroneta Aquatica)'.

That was when Neal spotted them, there were four webs creating bubbles of air underneath the waters, underneath three were three spiders, under the water their bodies looked silver. He pulled out his phone and took a photo of them one at a time. But he still couldn't see the fourth spider, he shoved his phone into his pocket and leant closer staring into the tank.

It took him longer than he realised to feel a spider on his hand. At first even when he stared right at it he didn't realise it was the spider he had been searching for inside the tank.

Then it bit him.

It wasn't excruciating, but it hurt, a lot, like a bee sting.

"Shit!" He yelped.

The room fell to silence and he realised everyone was staring at him, he quickly snatched back his hand back and into his pocket, the spider fell back onto the table and Neal almost felt bad.

Neal looked at the tour guide who was hurrying over to him. "I, er a spider got out of the tank, it scared me." He felt his cheeks flush pink as a few people sniggered at him being scared by a small spider.

"Let's move you all on to lunch." The tour guide quickly led them all out.

As they were hurried down the corridor Neal glanced behind him back into the genetics lab, the room seemed to be full of people now they had left, not just any people but people in yellow hazmat suits.

Neal felt an arm being thrown across his shoulders, he looked to his side and found PJ there, his face was full of concern, Neal felt bad he didn't want to be the reason why Philip stopped smiling.

"Are you sure you're okay Nee?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, I'm just not a huge fan of spiders." He shivered for effect.


	3. Chapter 3

**21st October 2019**

* * *

Emma didn't think that she had ever stayed in an apartment so nice before, if she had it was before she could remember. The couch she sat on was deep and comfortable, the leather was soft and new, and she had taken her doc martens off so she could dig her toes into the deep shag pile rug. She had never been in a apart so nicely decorated either, there were many lamps on side tables and framed photographs on the walls, the apartment was small but the entire place smelled like coffee and freshly baked bread, Lily had told her it was just a trick to make the show apartment more attractive to the people being shown around, but both she and August still found it magical.

"What are you guys doing in there?" She called from her place on the couch, where she was reluctantly still sitting following her best friends' orders despite her natural inclination to do the opposite.

"Nothing!" August called at the same time that Lily shouted

"Just stay there!"

Emma sighed but she stayed put, perhaps it was how scary Lily could sound, perhaps it was because these past fifteen years had been more tiring and longer than fifteen years should have been, or perhaps it was simply that she was stressed over their escape plan for the next day.

It was a birthday present to herself, she was the last of the three of them to turn fifteen, they had been best friends since they were eight. She had always told herself she'd hold on until she was sixteen to run- that why she had a better chance at passing for older to get a job and a place to live, but the last foster home she was in, the one two weeks previously she had run away from, had been bad… very bad, not the worst but enough to push her to her limits and make her break a year early.

They had spent the past couple of weeks stealing things they would need, mostly supplies in the form of food and a couple of outfits each, Lily had a power which allowed her to turn invisible for ten minute incrimals. Emma and August had both learnt to pickpocket as a necessity.

Emma was brought out of her head to singing, not necessarily good singing, but raucous singing full of life, and happiness, and love. She looked up and saw her best friends, her family, carrying three sloppily frosted cupcakes, the one in the middle was decorated with some extra sprinkles and had a number fifteen candle. Emma's face cracked into a wide smile as she listened to them sing happy birthday.

"You've got to make a wish." August grinned, he had told her this every year since they were eight and he had to explain birthdays to her.

Emma rolled her eyes but the effect was taken away by the grin plastered onto her face. She blew out the candles. "I wish that by tomorrow I never have to go to another foster home again."

"It doesn't count if you say it out loud."

"And it doesn't count if it's something you've already planned to happen." Lily added.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Then I wish to have a bigger cake for my next birthday." She smirked, taking a second to snap a picture of the cupcake, knowing that they had actually bought it and the decorations rather than stealing them, a warm glow grew inside her knowing she meant a lot to them and she fought to keep it inside.

The clock struck midnight and Emma Swan turned fifteen.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

**22nd October 2019**

They woke up early on the morning of Emma's birthday and as Emma pushed herself off of the plush bed beside August and Lily she knew that they wouldn't be sleeping in a bed like that for a while, they would have to be extra careful not to be caught, they would have to be cautious until they were a long way from Metro City.

Emma didn't exactly hate the city, she had lived in various places across the United Realms during the first eight years of life but for the next seven she had come to think of the chaotic city as home. She remembered that when she had first moved there, there had just been a huge battle in the city between whichever superheroes and villains had been most active at the time, half the city had been burning while the other half had been frozen. She had been in awe of the superheroes and powered people working together to fix the city, she had wondered what it would take to become one of them, but she knew she was no superhero, she fitted in better with the other side, but she didn't want to be some villain, so she kept her head down, and made friends with August and Lily.

She grabbed her backpack which had all her belongings inside of it, Lily and August were still tangled together and both snoring, Emma snapped a picture to tease them about later.

Then she slipped out of the back door of the show apartment, down the alleyway, then onto the store packed city street. She had gotten acquainted with the coffee shop employees across the road during the two weeks they had been there. Technically they hadn't actually purchased coffees, $5 was way above their price range, but the place had individual toilets which Emma slipped into now, past the hoards of businessmen and college students getting their caffeine fix. She had perfected the quick change in this place. The show apartment was just that, it had some working electric in the form of lights and plug sockets so they had been able to use August's laptop and charge their cell phones, but they had taken to using the bathrooms in the coffee store or fast food places.

Which was why she now plugged the sink and ran water into the bowl. She sighed reading the newly added sign above the sink, clearly a rushed one in sharpie. "No hot waters, apologies for any inconvenience." She read groaning. She looked down at the water now full in the bowl. She sighed then out of habit glanced around making sure that the door was shut.

She led her hand on the top of the water in the sink, and closed her eyes, concentrating just a little harder than usual. She could feel everything, the frigid water, the atoms which made it up, the air around her, and the power within. She never really thought about the science behind it, her power which she fought hard to hide and use as little as possible, she went off of feelings so when she touched the water and concentrate it was no surprise that in seconds the water was at the perfect temperature.

She washed quickly, wadding up toilet paper to use as a flannel, and using the liquid soap from the dispenser to wash her face and under her arms, she really needed to buy deodorant, or steal some, and a toothbrush. After they were far away from the city.

She finished washing and changed into clean-ish (well cleaner) clothes from her backpack. She left the bathroom and stood at the coffee counter, she waited until some businessman was too busy on his cellphone to realise they were calling his name… So Emma took the four coffees and bag of assorted pastries and muffins, she had found the best way to steal things was to pretend they were already owned by you. So she slipped out of the coffeehouse without anyone looking her way or stopping her.

Back at the apartment Lily and August were both up and dressed, they smile sleepily at her when she entered, well Lily didn't until she smelt the coffee. Emma laughed at that, none of them were really morning people, Emma was only awake as she was so nervous and excited, exhilarated she supposed. She passed coffees over, taking the sweetest one for herself, one which was more sugar than coffee, Lily took the plain black one, and August the middle one, it was things like that, how they all fit together, which made Emma glad they had chosen to be each other's' family.

They drank coffees waking themselves up fully, and demolished the feast of pastries and muffins, Emma took a little more than the others but they didn't seem to mind, she didn't know whether that was because she was the skinniest, too skinny really, or because it was her birthday.

Once they finished they all looked around with a sigh, the apartment had made a nice home for the past two weeks, they didn't want to leave, not really, but if they didn't leave now they would be found, or they would never leave Metro City.

"Are you sure no one's going to come looking for the car?" August worried.

"They shouldn't leave it lying around." Lily smirked.

Emma let out a huff of laughter but answered August calmly. "It's been there for three weeks, no ones gone near it, it wasn't working but I fixed it up, no one wants it." She looked her surrogate brother directly in the eyes as she spoke, she was relieved but not entirely surprised that neither he nor Lily asked her how she fixed up a whole car, they never pried. "It makes it perfect for a group of kids no one wants, don't you think?"

A smile spread over August's face and he nodded.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

The car might once have been yellow, but now it was too rusted over to be able to tell, and Emma was fairly certain it was a car which had once been in a movie about some alive car, but Emma didn't know what breed, or make, or brand (or whatever it was called) the car was, truthfully, she didn't care so long as it worked.

"Keep a lookout." She urged them, and because they trusted her they did. She felt bad about hiding her powers from even them, but she had learnt it was safest to keep them secret from everyone, it was a matter of survival.

Emma made sure that both August and Lily weren't looking as she placed her hand on the handle to open the drivers side.

"Yes!"

Emma jumped hearing Lily's shout, she span around at the same time Lily turned to look at her and the car, Emma wondered for a second if Lily had seen how she had opened it, but she realised that she must have turned around at the sound of the door opening. She gave Lily a shaky smile, pretending not to have been spooked. They piled into the car, Emma took a pocket knife from the pocket of her backpack and used it to open up the section to get to the wires. She had studied in depth online and in person (throughout the years) how to hot wire old cars, so she made quick work of this one. The engine spluttered to life, she placed her hands on the steering wheel, concentrating until the car's spluttering turned into a slightly healthier noise, it would do for now, it would make it out of the city while she rested her powers ready to fix the car fully.

Emma had never felt so free until now, with the wind figuratively blowing through her hair (it was too cold to roll the window down and she wasn't certain it would be able to roll back up), she was in control of the whole car, it felt better than she could even have imagined, it felt better this time than all the times in the past because this time she was running towards a future, before she had been running from her past.

They darted through the traffic, switching lanes erratically and driving just a little over the speed limit. Emma was grinning like a wild animal, fierce and pure, and August and Lily were whooping and shouting and singing in excitement.

It was all going so well.

Until she felt the car splutter again. Before she could do anything to stop or change it she lost control of the car.

She saw a tree growing larger and larger in the windscreen, she turned the wheel hoping with everything she had that they could avoid it, that she could regain control.

The next thing she knew they had crashed, her head had smacked onto the wheel.

She groaned managing to squint looking beside her to Lily's seat, she looked spooked but otherwise maybe just cuts and bruises, she turned back to look at August, he looked pale and possibly a little sick but he was awake and alert. She looked through the windscreen, it was cracked and the car was clearly broken beyond even her fixing, not without a lot of using her powers, which would take a long time with a lot of rest between.

Then she heard the sirens approaching them.

"Fuck." She spat out, at the same time August and Lily spat their own curses out.

"We're so fucking screwed." Emma added. And just like that her best birthday had turned into her worst.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

They were all cautioned by the cops and taken to hospital, as was procedure, but they were all separated. Emma didn't get why, what were they going to do, commit more crimes purely by being in beds in the same room?

Emma stayed quiet not wanting to give away the various crimes they didn't even know she had committed, aside from stealing a car, driving underaged, and driving without a licence.

The hospital was staffed by nurses and doctors who were highly skilled and often had powers based in healing. She told them her name, knowing they'd probably find it out anyway, and her birthday, she thought about adding a few years but they could just measure her bones or something with one of their machines and be able to tell. She felt a sinking feeling as the cops took, then retook DNA samples. She knew she was screwed, and in deep trouble, she could only hope that August and Lily were in less.

Emma watched carefully as the doctor used her hands to heal cuts and scrapes and bruises from the car crash, a nano-blanket was wrapped around her shoulders, the longer it was on the less the radiating pain of whiplash bit at her. She felt for her powers inside of her but she was too sore and tired to be able to use them; otherwise, perhaps she could have healed herself, she had always been too hurt to even try in the past.

"I can't use my powers on the cut on your head in case I damage your brain." The doctor told her.

Emma lifted her hand to her head and immediately touched the large cut. She winced and let out a hiss of pain. "I didn't even notice." She admitted.

"I'll give you some medicine for that, I'm going to use liquid nano stitches, it should heal with minimal scarring and it should heal quicker than the old nano stitches we used to use." She spoke kindly and softly, perhaps if Emma didn't hate hospitals she would have actually liked her.

The doctor gave her a shot of medicine and then began to apply what looked and felt like silver ink, but began to stitch itself together inside of the cut.

"Ms Swan?"

Emma cringed hearing the name come out of the cop's mouth, but there was something nervous about him. "Yeah?"

"We need to take your DNA sample-"

"- You already took it like twice, did you guys do it wrong or something?"

The cop shifted uncomfortably but ignored the question. "We'll also need your fingerprints. May I?"

She placed her hands on the small box one at a time, letting it read her finger prints. "Am I going to be sent to jail?" She let him swipe the cotton bud around her mouth then place it into a slot in the box.

The cop frowned. "I don't…. I don't believe that we will be seeking a prison sentence for you, this time, but we are trying to figure something out…"

*BEEP* The machine chimed.

He looked down at the box, Emma tried to catch sight of the words on it but she couldn't, the cop's frown deepened. "We will need you to come down to the station, we have some questions for you. You will be given a warning for your crimes, but as the car you stole was dumped the owning isn't seeking any damages. Ms Swan, if you are ready?" But he looked at the doctor who nodded that Emma was as healed as she was going to get.

It was only now, as she stood flanked by the cop that she realised how young he was, not much older than her, like he had not long got out of school. And he seemed nervous, really nervous, though for the life of her she didn't know why.

"Do you, erm, d'you have any powers?"

Emma had gone through this often enough with social workers and cops in the past, she knew it was so they didn't subject her to something which could affect her powers endangering her, and so they could be aware of her powers for their safety.

"I am completely unremarkable." She assured him wholeheartedly.


	4. Chapter 4

**22nd October 2019, 11:23am:**

David Nolan stared at his cellphone, his brow furrowed, his head slightly tilted to the side, and his mouth every so slightly agape. He kept reading the message on his phone again and again, he wondered perhaps if he had misread it, or if he had been reading an old message by mistake.

But there was no mistake, Mary Margaret really had gone to work today, the day when she usually fell into a deep depression, where she had always been likely to pick fights with him especially, in denial that Emma was indeed dead, and had been for years. But now it seemed she was finally moving on.

He also fell into a depressive mood around the fall, around his daughter's birthday, but he always tried to hide it, Mary Margaret seemed to not be able to and Neal had needed security, so David had tried to hide.

Neal had once, several years ago now, yelled at David that he was a workaholic. David supposed that he was he didn't want to be, he was there for Neal as much as Neal wanted or needed him, and when he wasn't there he was at work, and when he was forced to take vacation days once a week he was a volunteer firefighter. Anything to fill his mind and time, otherwise he wasn't sure he would cope, he replayed the birth of his second child enough times in his head as it was.

He had been in relationships filling this time too, of course he had he and Mary Margaret had been divorced for nearly twelve years. They hadn't been the worst relationships, hell they had been fun, and he had loved his partners… but he had always believed in true love even when he wasn't sure if it was the right plan to wait for it.

He grabbed his wallet from on top of his desk, ignoring the case file he had on his desk and the four books he was meant to be using for his research of legal precedent.

He opened the wallet, ignoring the money instead he hooked his fingers into the small hidden pocket and pulled out a couple of photographs:

There was one of Neal, his first school photograph when he was in kindergarten, the year Mary Margaret and David divorced. He smiled stroking his finger down it.

The second photograph was of him, his twin brother, and their mother when they were still fairly young, his stepfather Robin was there too so it must have been the christmas after they married.

The next photograph had a slightly crumpled bottom right corner from how often David had stared at it, Neal was maybe a year, maybe a couple of months older, Mary Maragret was pregnant with Emma, safe and secure in her tummy, Mary Margaret and David were cuddled close, their foreheads touching as they pretended to be asleep to see how Neal would react. He stared at it for a minute, he thought that Mary Margaret was just as beautiful now as she had been when they were young. It was almost impossible to believe that a year after this was taken she and David were arguing non stop, they were still searching for Emma, and two years after that they were told that bones had been found, they were Emma's. She had not lived for long after she was kidnapped.

It had broken them.

His eyes filled with tears as he switched to the last photograph. It was one of the few they had, he wished he had even more than just a few hours worth of them, this one was his favourite though, it was currently the lock screen of his phone, as it was whenever he knew Neal wasn't going to catch sight of it. He had always hidden that he was as caught in the past as Mary Margaret was, he kept up a pretence the best he could, he kept moving forward with his body while his head was kept firmly in the past. He allowed three tears to drop, as he stared at the photograph of him cradling Emma in his arms, she had a shock of dark hair, and she had blue eyes then, he wondered if she had lived if she would have been a copy of Neal, or if she would have changed.

He was brought out of his trance by the sound of gasps coming from outside of his office where the secretaries worked. He looked up as his door opened and the gasps were all explained, Robin was there, David's stepfather. He had also once been a famous superhero The Merry Man, able to wield any weapon, and withstand things such as bullets, but to David he was simply the person who had been the person who acted most like a father to David and James, so on special occasions he would call him dad.

"Robin, what are you doing here?" He frowned and swiftly placed the photographs back into his wallet, pretending he hadn't been staring at them. "I don't have anything in my calendar-"

"You're my kid, I don't need an appointment." He smiled at him steadily, it would take a lot to knock the smile off of it. "You eaten today?"

David nodded his head without even debating it. "Yeah." Coffee counted as food, he glanced at the clock on his desk, it was later than he realised.

"Hrmph." Robin made a half laugh half judging noise in the back of his throat, it must have been obvious that David was lying. "Well it's nearly lunch, and I'm sure you've been here since before the sun rose and you've probably drunk your weight in coffee; let's go grab something."

"I was going to just order something for here, I have a couple of cases I should be working on."

"Any trials today?" David shook his head. Robin's voice sounded as bright as his smile. "Perfect, we can go out and get something."

"-Robin-"

"-You need fresh air, Davey." His voice was firm, commanding, and the same one David had copied when he had become a father himself. "We'll go and have some lunch, my treat. Grab your coat."

David let out a loud and long sigh, he was certain that everyone in his office would kill for the chance to go to lunch with The Merry Man, but David knew that his stepfather was checking up on him, making sure that he was safe, assessing to see how much David needed him that day. David had super strength, it had come in rather handy throughout his life and his power was a lot stronger than the standard powered people, but he didn't think that even he would be a match against a father's determination.

They went to a cafe not far from David's office, Robin kept asking him questions about the law cases David was currently working as they walked, David drew a blank on them all, trying to give Robin some random details he was pretty sure were real.

They grabbed a table and ordered drinks and food, David ordered a panini and a mug of earl gray tea, he had a feeling Robin would have objected to him ordering more coffee.

He ran his hands up his face starting at the stubble on his jaw, up across his face, then through his hair.

Robin took in David's face in his hands and his he ran his hands through his hair, Robin's heart broke, but it completely shattered when David noticed him staring and gave him a wide smile. "How are you coping today?"

David rolled his eyes playfully to stop himself from sighing and giving himself away. "You know that I'm thirty four, right? I'm not a kid like Henry, Roland, or Rowan."

Robin normally would have let David get away with that, but today of all days, he was going to get an answer, he needed to know David's state of mind. "I don't care how old you are, I'm always going to worry about you and about James." He caught David's eye and gave him a supportive smile. "Don't make you middle name you, kid."

This time David did let out a sigh, he had meant to make it sound annoyed, but it came out sounding akin to Eyore. "I'll be okay. Dad I promise, I'm okay." He looked directly into Robin's eye for a couple of seconds longer than he usually would. He waited until Robin nodded his head, he knew that he finally believed him. David bit his lip. "Mary's gone to work."

That made Robin stop worrying about David. It was a good sign of course, but Robin knew all about how Mary usually passed this day, both from David and from Robin's wife Regina, who had been close friends with Mary's mom, so he was as surprised as anyone.

"I think I'm going to text her, make sure she's okay-." He was stopped by Robin groaning. "What?"

"Don't text her about this."

"But-"

"David, things are good between you two right now, you get along well enough, you make things work for your son- this is the only subject you two always manage to argue over."

"It's not a subject, Robin, it's one of our kids, I know she's dead but she's still ours."

"Hey, I know that." His voice was soft yet firm, his eyes apologetic. "But if Mary's in a good place and is coming to accept Emma's gone, then you adding your two cents might make her feel guilty about moving on, it might make her do a complete 180."

David held Robin's eye until he finally relented and nodded his head.

The lunch passed in a blur, perhaps due to the lack of sleep David had the night before, or all the caffeine he had consumed since before the sun broke through the sky, or perhaps it was simply because of the day it was. He listened to Robin talk enthusiastically about his charity work, about his kids, and David managed to fill in questions Robin asked, coming the most alive when Robin asked about Neal, but in his head he kept on thinking about the only other person who truly felt how he did today.

Robin ducked into the bathroom before they left, and David quickly whipped out his cellphone, he knew he had to be quick but he also knew Robin was correct in his worry that David could make it all a lot harder for Mary Margaret again.

' I'm here for you if you need me. ' He settled on sending, finally, though he didn't expect a text back now, or perhaps ever. It still felt right to send it.

David felt better on the walk back to his office, he didn't know whether it was having Robin still with him or if it was the text he had finally sent, but he felt as though he was more in control of his head, he was able to focus better than he had been.

But he wasn't focusing enough to notice the familiar car parked directly outside the main doors.

His secretary was stood waiting outside of his office, a look of concern and anxiety on her face, she held a casefile in front of her chest as though it was a shield, she looked hesitant to speak but as David and Robin were drawing close to the open office door she was forced to.

"David, there are people here to see you."

"New clients?"

"No they're, well one of them claims he's your friend?"

David frowned, not because he didn't have any friends, but because his friends didn't drop by scaring his secretary in the middle of a work day. He quickened his pace as did Robin.

He came to a halt just over the threshold of his office so quickly that Robin only just managed to stop himself from crashing into him.

"Rogers?" He frowned at his friend, he wasn't scary in the least, he took in the man stood beside him, David had met him a couple of times Graham Humbert, Detective James Rogers' partner. David froze completely still as though he was a deer and they were wolves hunting him. "What's going on."

"Dave, you might want to sit down." Rogers nodded to Robin who seemed confused over whether to stay or not, David would need him there, hell they might need him there.

"I'll stand thanks." He told his friend stiffly. In his head his mind raced; had something happened to Neal, god had something happened to his son, was there a crash or did something happen at the science lab? Or did something happen to Mary Margaret? God not Mary Margaret. Or to James and Belle and their kids...?

Rogers thought about insisting he sit but he knew it wouldn't change his mind. "Dave we were contacted by Metro City detectives a few hours ago, there was a small car crash, nothing too serious, but they needed us to clarify some things." He kept his words deliberately vague then looked at Graham, giving him a stern look to continue.

"Mr Nolan, David, when I was a beat cop I was working under an older cop, one who had been working there for years, he was a detective, Detective O'Malley, he was mentoring me as he knew I wanted to be a detective. One evening we were called out after a dog discovered the remains of a young child."

David felt a bitter taste in his throat and his stomach began to turn.

"Detective O'Malley, as you will probably know, was in charge of your daughter's case. There were test performed on the skeletal remains and it was compared to your daughters DNA taken after her birth, and compared to yours and your wife's."

David already knew this, well most of it. The skeleton had been Emma's. He wouldn't forget Detective O'Malley telling them that all hope was lost, that their baby was dead, that they'd never get to see her again.

"The thing is, the remains tests didn't come back as a match for your daughter's DNA, they managed to do further tests and found that the bones were actually very old." He heard Robin take a sharp intake of breath, but David was staring at him unable to even imagine what Graham was inferring. "David, O'Malley threatened everyone with the loss of their jobs… David they pretended the baby had been your daughter to give you peace of mind, to allow you to move on, but they weren't your daughter."

David stayed nearly perfectly still, only his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides were a sign that inside his blood was boiling. "You let me believe she had died because you were scared some corrupt cop was going to fire you?" He said through clenched teeth. His nostrils flared as he stared directly at Graham. "You better leave, right this second, or you're going to wish it had been your skeleton they found."

Graham didn't waste a second in leaving, he carefully gave both David and Robin a wide berth as he scarpered. But Rogers stayed put.

"Rogers-" David growled.

"I had no clue, trust me Dave, you know me, you know I wouldn't go along with something like that." David stayed quiet so Rogers decided that he had trusted him. "David, the car crash I said about in Metro City? There was a fifteen year old driving the car, she's okay, but they took her to hospital and had to book her because she stole it, they've since dropped the charges but they still have her in their custody. David they ran her DNA and her fingerprints, they ran them about five times, to be certain. David she's your daughter. Emma's alive ."

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

Mary Margaret was having a fairly standard day at work, well it was obviously harder emotionally for her, but generally it was mundane.

She felt torn between distracting herself with work, which she had to admit felt a lot better than being in bed and thinking only about Emma, but she felt as though she was betraying her daughter by not calling the police about her daughter to see what they were still doing. She still felt in her heart that her daughter was alive even if her head was telling her that it was very unlikely.

It was just an ordinary day, she gained some pitying looks from her colleagues, but the kids in her class knew nothing, she could just pretend that it was any day other than the twenty second of October.

It was just an ordinary day so she did not have her cell phone turned on, so she did not see David's text, or his phone calls, or Robin's, or Regina's. So the first she knew that something was happening was when one of the school receptionists arrived with a substitue for her class and asked her to follow her.

Her first thought was Neal, that something had happened on his field trip, maybe there was a crash or something. Then her mind travelled to something possibly having happened to David, and that thought was as painful, she didn't know what she would do if something had happened to him. Or perhaps there was a burglary at her home, but she didn't know why the receptionist would be staying silent instead of telling her what was going on.

She was led to a meeting room. Robin was there staring not at the noise of her being led through the open door, but at David. There was also David's friend James Rogers there, he had gone to school with Mary and David and their friends, but she hadn't seen him in months.

She knew David as well as she did herself, she knew his moods, the way he thought, what his favourite things were, and how he acted before he was about to break.

"David, what's going on?" She took in how stiff he was stood, like he was holding himself together with duct tape, he was clearly trying to downplay his emotions, pretend that he wasn't angry or upset about something, perhaps both.

David's jaw clenched then he began to tell her the story, he told her about Detective O'Malley's 'good intentions', David said it as though he had said 'poison', and like David she held herself still and quiet as he spoke. She looked calm, not even clenching her fists, her anger was not the blood boiling sort like David's, no hers was ice through her veins, but just as fierce.

" Snow ," David's voice cracked as he called her the nickname he hadn't used in a long time, twelve years, maybe more, he wasn't sure exactly at what point during their divorce he had stopped, "there was a teenager arrested this morning, a couple of cities away, for stealing a car, it was their birthday today… she was fifteen… they've taken DNA." His voice began to crack and he was powerless against it.

Mary looked from David's crumbling exterior, to Robin who was sat teary eyed and biting his lip, to Rogers who was staring at the ground, she looked back at her ex husband with a small gasp. "David, Charming ," It was the first time she had used his nickname too, it felt both forgein and familiar on her tongue, she hadn't called him that since the day Emma was born, "Is it our Emma? Is she alive?"

David took a shaky breath, then gave a singular nod of his head, and the well broke. He fell back against the wall and broke.


	5. Chapter 5

_**22nd October 2019: **_

_1:30pm; Future Visions Industries. _

Neal was really starting to feel unwell. He and his friends sat at one of the tables in the canteen of Future Visions Industries, it was a brand new building and it was light and airy, and contained many people, it was beautiful and everything about it made Neal feel even worse.

The October sunlight burned his eyes and made his head ache, the constant buzz of chatter reached his ears as though they were all right next to him shouting into his ears on purpose. He felt either very, very hot or very, very cold. He managed to force himself to eat the food he had chosen from the canteen, a wrap, he downed water as though he had walked through the desert for a month.

He was quietly debating if diving into the fountain out the front of the building would make him feel better, he always felt better in the water, he knew that breathing underneath the surface was his power but for whatever reason it also made him feel calm.

He was also debating whether or not he was having a panic attack, he could hear fast heartbeats in his eyes, he was certain it must be his own, a panic attack would make sense.

Then he felt a warm hand close around his own and everything went quieter. He turned his head to look at their hands, then up at the person's arm, to PJ's face.

He breathed slow.

"You okay, Nee?"

Neal nodded his head, sunlight caught in his eyes, and he winced. Maybe he wasn't being as convincing as he thought he was. "I think I have the flu." He admitted.

PJ frowned. His hand was still holding onto Neal's on the canteen table. "Do you need to go home? I could call your dad to come get you?" He looked around trying to catch sight of one of their science teachers to tell them Neal was sick, but Neal's hand turned in his and squeezed it, bringing his attention back to his best friend.

"I'll be fine, Peej, really." His best friend gave him a look like he didn't fully believe him. "Mom probably brought something home from the kids, you know what I'm like, I'll be fine by tomorrow, I swear." He held direct eye contact with him in fact he was staring so intently into those brown eyes, spotting gold hiding just beyond the chocolate brown, that he nearly missed Philip nodding his approval slash agreement.

The truth was he felt like he could probably do with being in bed, but he wasn't about to tell anyone that, not even PJ, for two understandable reasons:

They were on a field trip to the brand new Future Visions building, less than one hundred AP science students chosen from various schools in the whole of Hyperion Heights, and this was a dream field trip for Neal and PJ, he wasn't about to ruin that by getting himself, or possibly everyone, sent home, over something as silly as a spider bite, hell the whole feeling sick was probably just psychosomatic, or stress.

The second reason was because he didn't want everyone to worry about him. He remembered being eight, or maybe nearly eight, and he had fallen from a high tree at school. Mary Margaret was a teacher at the school and Neal supposed that the birds in the treetops had flown to her to tell her what was happening, possibly even _as_ he fell, she rushed over in time to see him fall from the tallest tree. He remembered the pain was like nothing else he had ever felt, his leg was twisted in an unusual position, and Neal had been airlifted to hospital with Mary Margaret beside him, it was that moment he decided that he was certainly scared of heights. It had turned out that he had broken his leg, it was a clean break, easily fixed by powered hospital doctors, but Neal's mom had freaked out the whole time they were in the hospital and at home. He remembered his dad being there, which was unusual, Neal thought vaguely that he had been sick or was working, or more likely both. David hadn't been quite as bad as Mary Margaret but he too had freaked out.  
Neal had sworn to himself that he was never going to be the reason his parents worried again.

-WCBH-

_1:45pm; Metro City Police Department station 89: _

Emma sat in a room which she was used to in police stations.

She had been in the proper interview rooms before when she was in trouble (which she had just barely gotten out of) the ones that proper criminals were interviewed in, but this one was the one she was more familiar with.  
It had fairly comfortable worn fake leather couches covered in moth bitten cushions and a cheap Walmart scratchy wool throw on the back, the walls were painted cream which was just a bit too yellow, and instead of the hard resin floor which covered the rest of the flooring in the station this one had a carpet so thin that it didn't seem like they should have bothered at all. There were posters which signs of abuse and addiction and health conditions tacked to the walls, along with a couple of canvas prints which probably cost less than $5 for the pair. There was a cupboard with colouring books, pencils and toys, the doors had been taken off of their hinges so that  
There was a mixture of smells; the 'lemon' scent of the room cleaners the one which caught in the back of her throat the one which was much more the smell of chemicals than the sickly lemon which was trying to hide said smell, there was also the smell of a vanilla candle, she supposed that was meant to relax people but it wasn't doing a thing to settle Emma down.

Lastly was the smell of an egg sandwich, that one wasn't the room persay, but it was the social worker who must have eaten one as a hasty lunch, if the crumbs and stain on her jacket were anything to go by.

She introduced herself as Annie, she was a trained therapist and social worker, Emma's _new_ social worker. She had first assured Emma that she wouldn't be going back to the cramped apartment of her last foster family, they had too many kids, too little time, and too little patience.

Then she did something which surprised Emma for a minute which was saying something considering she knew the social worker routine down to a T.

She asked Emma what she remembered about her past.

This had been forbidden territory for Emma and her past social workers. She had been five when she had been taken into care, it was scary and traumatic, and despite her claims she remembered everything. Well nearly everything, as much as a traumatised five year old could. But everyone; all the therapists, and teachers, and support workers, social workers, doctors, foster careers, _everyone _thought that she didn't remember anything, that she had completely blanked it out, so they stopped asking. And why the hell would she tell that it was all still there, locked inside a stone tower of her making, one with walls as thick as she had erected around the rest of her.

She schooled her features but not before 'Call me Annie' noticed her panicked look. Shit. Emma tilted her chin up and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "I'm not saying anything until I know about Aug and Lil."

The social worker, Annie, frowned a little but like Emma schooler her features. "Your friends?" At Emma's nod she nodded back. "They've been taken to new homes, they won't be facing any trouble for running away or for stealing the car, as you confessed to the police that you were the one to steal the car they didn't have any evidence to charge them with anything. They're safe." She added the last part slowly when she realised that Emma was still looking at her the same way.

Emma took five seconds to process and believe it. Then she slowly nodded her head.

Annie was quiet for a minute, letting Emma gather her thoughts. "Emma, please can you tell me anything you can remember about your life before you were made a ward of the state?"

And for the first time Emma told someone, she didn't tell her in detail or in depth, but she told her the truth, the bits she could remember, the bits she wasn't ashamed of. As she spoke Annie wrote some things down and when she got to the end Emma felt both lighter and more vulnerable. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

Annie finished writing her last note before closing her notebook and taking a deep breath. "Emma, I know that you believed that the man and woman you had been living with up until her death and his subsequent arrest were your parents, it's what was assumed by your first social worker too, so much so that your DNA was never taken." She took a slow breath. "When you were arrested earlier today a DNA sample was taken and analysed, as were your fingerprints, and they came back with a hit."

Emma frowned and shook her head ever so slightly. "I haven't got a record, I swear." She told her urgently as though she was expecting police scarier than the manchild who put her in the room to come back, this time with cuffs. Or maybe they somehow found out she was powered from the DNA, could they do that? Shit.

"It wasn't a police record for a crime, it was a missing person case which was cold but still technically open. There was a baby stolen from a hospital in Hyperion Heights when she was only a few hours old, fifteen years ago today, her parents never stopped searching for her and hoping she was alive, even when a policeman faked evidence in order to give them closure. The baby was you Emma."

"N-No. You've got it wrong, my parents were assholes, I was taken from _them."_

"They took you from your biological family, well they think someone else took you first and then you ended up with the people you thought were your biological family. Emma there's no mistake. Your parents are David and Mary Margaret Nolan. You have a brother about a year and a half older than you, Neal Nolan. They've run the tests several times, there's no mistake, Emma you have a family who love and miss you."

Emma shook her head, her mouth was hanging a little open, she supposed that she was probably in shock but she couldn't process that right then, not on top of everything else. She looked back down at her lap, the ripped and faded dirty jeans which she had slipped on only that morning, in the coffeehouse bathroom, looking forward to finding a new happier future and a new home… but instead she was being forced into her past, and an old home she didn't even know she had.

_2:12pm; Hyperion Heights 99th Police Station. _

"What's taking them so long?" Mary Margaret sighed for the third time since they had been left alone in the meeting room in the police station.

David was no longer crying or broken as he had been at Mary Margaret's school, instead he sat still and quiet at the table, resting on his elbow, instead of his usual easy going smile he had a deep in thought frown upon his face. This time he stirred out of his trance and looked at his ex wife. "They've got to talk to social workers, and police, and I don't know, doctors?"

Mary Margaret stopped her pacing and stared at David. "Doctors!? But they said that the car crash was only small!"

David gave her a tight sympathetic smile. "I was guessing, Mare, I'm sure it was, I'm sure _she's _fine." He let out a breath of a laugh of exhilaration at the mere thought of their daughter being alive. He shook head before getting himself back on track. "They'll be spending most of the time talking to the police, social workers, and the judge- they need to get a temporary care order, because technically she's dead and well, in care."

Mary Margaret sat down with a sigh, she wanted to say that it was ridiculous that they had to be given custody of their own daughter, but she had been on enough child welfare courses to know how many hoops had to be jumped through and boxed had to be checked when it came to kids. Nevertheless… she just wanted her baby back, to see her again, to know where she was, and to finally take her home. "I just want her home, David."

"I know." His voice was soft and quiet as he stared at the table. "I do too."

Mary Margaret reached across and took hold of his hand, she hadn't done this in years, but it was as cold as it always had been in the years they were together. "You should wear warmer clothes." She chastised softly, out of habit, an old habit she didn't realise she even had.

A memory of a smile appeared on his face. "I know, at least now I wear long sleeved shirts?" He offered with a tiny smirk and she actually laughed, he couldn't help but laugh too. When they stopped they locked eyes. "Mary you did it, you were right, I can't…" He shook his head, he couldn't help but feel bad that he hadn't had the same amount of commitment to her being alive as Mary had, that he had accepted the lie for his own sake.

There was a beat of silence.

"I-"

"You should move back in." Mary Margaret's words cut off David's.

"W-What?"

Mary watched as David tilted his head to the side in a way which always reminded her of a golden retriever, it had been one of the things she loved about him when they were dating and married, and one of the things she hated about him before and during their divorce, now it was just one of those things which stirred like a small hurricane of nostalgia inside of her.

"You should move back into the brownstone, for a while, a few months, to get to know Emma."

David blinked a couple of times in pure surprise before stammering out. "Back to the brownstone, _your_ brownstone?"

"Well it'll be easier if we're all together…. Unless you're splitting your time between your apartment and somewhere else?"

David frowned, his head still on the side. "Like… my work?"

Mary rolled her eyes. "No," She said slowly, "I mean, unless you're dating someone and they live with you or you're splitting your time between your apartment and theirs…"

Penny in the air.

Penny dropped.

"I'm not dating anyone." He said as though it were an alien concept. "If I was you'd know already, there's only been three since we… well… I would have told you Mary."

He locked eyes with her. He had always loved those green eyes, he had been broken hearted when the light in them had gone out, he was certain that some of that was his fault, a couple of years after they had divorced it had slowly but surely come back, so it must have been to do with him.

Guilt pooled in his stomach and he moved his hand away from hers.

They sat in silence until the detective, a lawyer, and a social worker came in and announced the news they had been expecting:

They had been awarded joint custody of Emma.

They were also briefly updated on the case to find out who had taken Emma and for what reason, but for that moment David and Mary didn't hear that, they only thing they heard was that they were going to have their little girl home that night.

-WCBH-

_2:40; Hyperion Heights._

Neal had never been so happy to be on his way back to school. The whole class was crammed back onto the school bus and the whole way it seemed, to Neal at least, that they were all making as much noise as possible. All except PJ who was still stuck next to Neal and kept giving him concerned glances. Neal had tried to tell him that he was okay but had soon gotten bored of that and had pulled his hood up and leant his head against the bus window.

As they pulled up to the school he tried to think about getting home on the subway, he wasn't sure he'd make it there, maybe he should try and get to his dad's instead, David would be at work but Neal had keys. Yeah he'd skip studying at school and go to his dad's, he could text his mom that he wasn't feeling well and went there. His hand pulsed and his irately thought "Yes I know I haven't forgotten about you." to the spider bite, he was sure that when he looked there would be nothing there.

"Nee, are you-"

"Peej, I'm gonna go to my dad's, okay?" He held eye contact with his friend who seemed happy not to have to fight him to go home instead of studying. The bus parked in front of the school and they both stood, Neal mostly leaning against the window behind him as they waited for others to filter out of the bus.

When finally off the bus he slung his backpack over his shoulders, they had all been given a 'goodie bags' in the words of their tour guide and Neal was glad he had dumped his swim bag in his locker because there was no way the full bag of stuff would have fit in otherwise.

He yawned and started to trek across the car park to the subway station he heard footsteps approach him fast. He turned, his hands clenched into fists and held up ready to defend himself, or attack someone else.

PJ let out a laugh and held his hands up in surrender. "Woah, Nee, just me."

Neal dropped his attack posture. "Idiot I almost…"

"Attacked me?" He raised his brow and smirked. "I think I could take you."

He turned back to continue walking this time Philip was at his side. "Are you following me?"

"I'm walking you to your subway."

Neal looked at him as amused as he could while feeling like keeling over. "Why?"

Philip hesitated. "Because you're sick."

Neal was about to protest he was okay when he heard his name being shouted. He looked around trying to catch sight of who shouted. Then he caught sight of the familiar BMW. A smile came to his face straight away when he saw Regina.

Regina had been in his life forever, she was his mom's mom's best friend (when Eva had been alive), and had gone on to marry Neal's dad's stepfather, Robin. She was also Neal's godmother, his honorary Aunt and sort of grandson, and had been one of the most stable people during his parents divorce. That being said it was unusual to see her at the school, her kids were all older than Neal, the youngest of them Rowen wasn't even in high school anymore.

He shared a look with PJ before they both headed over to the car. "Gina, what are you doing here?"

Regina had been frowning as Neal had approached, he looked as pale as Mary Margaret was in the height of winter, but he looked clammy, his hair plastered to his forehead. She was trying to figure out what was wrong when she realised he had asked her a question. "I'm going to drive you home, your mom and dad are there, they need to talk to you?"

Neal raised his eyebrows. "Are they getting another divorce?" He quipped.

She gave him a small smile and shook her head. "We really need to go, okay?"

She was never one to be in a rush, never one to need to rush. So Neal gave PJ a small smile, it must have shown how worried he was because PJ pulled him into a quick hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah." Neal said slowly.

Less than an hour later Neal was sat in the living room of his home, his and his mother's home, in front of both of his parents. He couldn't believe what they were saying, in fact if his father hadn't been there looking as shocked as Neal, then Neal would have believed that his mother had finally lost it. But David was saying the same thing, as did Regina and Robin who were in the background, if he knew them they were making lists about things needed, or perhaps a plan. Neal tried to focus on his parents but his head was pounding.

How could Emma be alive? How could she be alive and just a city over? How could she be on her way here?

"Is she… I mean, is she happy to be coming here? That she found us?" He eventually asked.

Mary's smile dropped, she felt David's cold hand squeeze hers.

"She didn't know about us, she had a different idea of her past, of who her biological family was, I think this is probably a big shock to her, it might take her a little while to get used to being here."

Neal slowly nodded. "And you're going to be staying here?"

"Yeah, in the spare room, just while I'm getting to know Emma, then when we're all comfortable, when things are normal, I'll go back to my apartment and you and Emma can come stay like you usually do." He gave him an encouraging smile but he looked as worried as he had at both of his children's births, when he was only a couple of years older than Neal.

The next hour passed with them all waiting, Mary had taken root in the living room on the window seat, staring out of the window. David kept placing. Regina and Robin had volunteered to go to the store to get a bed for Emma's room. Neal had text Philip everything he didn't think he'd cope if he didn't talk to someone who wasn't his parents.

Eventually he escaped the silence by ducking upstairs, he knew he had some advil in his bedroom, and he needed some to try and get through meeting his sister without screaming in pain from his headache.

He was walking out of his bedroom when he bumped into David.

David had made his way upstairs to check on Neal, he knew he was a bit under the weather, he also knew that Neal was stubborn enough to find it hard to admit that, so David was worried that he had told them freely.

But he didn't make it to Neal's room. Instead he came to a stop in front of the door before Neal's.

The name plate they had put up a couple of days after Emma had gone missing was still screwed into the wooden door, he had done that, in the hopes that she would be back before the week was over, and in the need to do something. But he hadn't himself stepped foot inside of the room since before Emma was born, when he had grabbed the maternity bag and rushed to hospital, Mary had spent nights inside there, but David couldn't stomach it.

He placed his hand on the door handle and gently pushed the door open. He felt as though he had stepped through a time machine. Nothing had changed at all, well, mostly nothing. He walked into the room until he got to the bookcase, where there was the photographs they had put up while doing up the room, but there was also a new one, a framed picture of the day Emma was born, one of the nurses had took it for them; Mary Margaret, David, and Emma cradled in Mary's arms, David's arm wrapped around Mary and his other hand adjusting Emma's blanket. He picked it up. It hadn't been up there when he had lived here, well he didn't think it had anyway, he supposed he wouldn't have known if it had been.

"Mom put that one up like five years ago."

David jumped. He turned around and saw his son leaning against the door frame. He placed the frame back down in its place then walked over to stand beside the sixteen year old. He was about to ask something about how Neal was feeling (only in part to cover for the embarrassment he felt being back in this home again) when he remembered he had originally come upstairs to check on him.  
"Nee, you don't look well, maybe you should see a doctor." He reached out to feel for his temperature when Neal ducked away.

"Dad!" He protested. "I'm fine, I took a couple of advils, I'll be okay I swear." He ducked his head but he still felt David's eyes piercing into him. He looked back up and attempted to change the subject. "So… you're moving back home…"

"It's not going to be like last time Neal. I promise, me and your mom are friends now, we get along, we're not going to be like how we were when we were married. It's not going to be like that, and before we know it, I'll be back to my condo."

Neal nodded.

"Neal, look at me," he waited until Neal's blue eyes met his own, "we're not going to be arguing. It's not going to be like it was when me and Mary were married."

"Because you guys aren't in love anymore?"

David's mouth fell open.

"She's here!" Mary's voice called from downstairs.

"We should get down there, bud."

The three of them gathered in the hallway as they waited for the social worker to park up.

The back of David's hand brushed against Mary's.

She turned her hand and took hold of his.

The doorbell rang.


	6. Chapter 6

Annie was going to be Emma's social worker, but that didn't matter to Emma right then, instead she had been thinking her whole life through. She felt like there had still been a mistake, there was no way she had a '_family_', not one which wasn't put together made of her, August, and Lily. She would have known, _somehow_, surely, even if she had been hours old and had been told for years that the people she had lived with until she was five were her mother and father. She had hated them then and every day since she was 'rescued', she had tried not to but she was defined as _their_ daughter, and as someone who shunned everything that they were and did.

But now she hated them more. She could have been _someone_, someone else, she could have been _anyone_ but who she had been _made_ into.

She was packed in the back of Annie's minivan, the bags she had packed that morning for their escape from Metro City, and she now was on her way out of Metro City but without August and Lily and to live with strangers.

Emma had tried to search for Mary Margaret, David, and Neal on social media during the drive to Hyperion Heights, but her phone screen had been smashed when she had crashed the car, so she couldn't even search to see when they looked like and what they were like.

"We're nearly there."

Emma hummed in response. She was staring out of the window as they drove, at first Hyperion Heights seemed very much like Metro City, maybe a little cleaner and less destruction from superheroes and villains, but ultimately just a city like any other.

Eventually they were a little away from the city centre, down streets lined with tall brownstone houses, Emma kept waiting for the houses to devolve and look crap, for them to hit the other side of the tracks.

But the satnav quickly announced. "_You have reached your destination_".

Emma frowned, Annie pulled up on one of the streets lined with the same style tall brownstones as they had been passing for the past five minutes. Her eyes were drawn to a house which looked like something out of the Hallmark movies or some instagram; there were pumpkins leading up the steps to the black arched door, and on the street the tree outside of the house had orange lights which were dim in the fall afternoon. Around the trunk of the tree was a ribbon which may once have been yellow, but was so old that it was stained by dirt and was frayed, it looked so out of place compared to the picture perfect street.

Annie must have seen her looking. "That one is the Nolan's house; your house."

"What's with the ribbon? On the tree." She asked before she could stop herself.

Annie searched for the ribbon but it took her a moment to realise what Emma was talking about. "Oh! It was a yellow ribbon, they're put up to remember a missing loved one, to wait for them to return home."

Emma didn't understand how they could keep that belief up, she knew that she certainly couldn't have done that, and they had another kid at the same time.

She took a while to get out of the minivan, even when Annie was ready with all the paperwork she needed, Emma wanted to waste a little bit of time and to put off this whole meeting, or remeeting as the case may be.

She followed Annie up the steps to the front door, Annie knocked on the door and Emma stood to the side, hiding as much as she could. The door opened and Annie led the way yet again, Emma reluctantly followed her new social worker inside.

Emma kept her eyes on the floor as they walked through the porch, there were some shoes in perfect position on a shoe rack, not a speck of dirt in sight. She finally looked up when she was finally inside the house.

Her eyes met three people. A tall man and a shorter woman both with short hair and both dressed quite formally, they were holding hands, and their eyes were teary. A couple of steps behind and to the side was a boy, he looked around her age, maybe closer to August's age, only a little older than her, his hair was dark and wavy and nearly down to his shoulders. Even _he_ was dressed what she would say was formal, he had a woollen sweater, underneath that he had on a shirt and a tie, exactly the same as the man, but in darker colours, Emma realised that it must have been a school uniform. She was nothing like these people.

"Emma, these are Mary Margaret and David, your mom and dad, and your brother, Neal."

Neal nodded at her but that was the only movement in the hallway, until Emma raised her hand and gave a small wave, if only to do _something_.

She was suddenly pulled into a tight hug from Mary Margaret and David, she stiffened but was relieved that the sudden movement hadn't caused her powers to try and protect her by attacking them, she didn't want the powers and certainly didn't want anyone knowing about them, especially not this family who seemed as unpowered as it was possible to be. They'd probably freak out if they found out… perhaps she would reveal it later depending how terrible this family was, it was an easy out.

She could hear both of them sobbing, she didn't know if they were upset or it they were tears of joy, she felt bad that she wasn't more emotional but how could she be? She hadn't even known that she had a family who cared about her, she hadn't had a family to miss, how could she cry like they all were?

She stayed perfectly still until she was finally let go, at first by David, who quickly wiped his tears away, and eventually Mary Margaret let her go too, she didn't wipe her tears away and she had a wide smile on her face.

"I can't believe how much you've changed, how much you've grown, that you're fifteen already. I thought you'd have dark hair, like me and Neal, I didn't think about it turning blonde- I mean it looks really nice, it suits you-."

"Snow," David used her old nickname for the second time that day, "why don't we move to the living room, give Emma a little space to breathe, yeah?" He had seen his daughter's wide eyes and knew that it was too much to have Mary being quite so… well, _Mary_, he loved her for that - _had loved her for that_\- but it wasn't what Emma needed right then.

Mary looked at David in surprise, she gave him a sheepish smile, then back at Emma with the sheepish smile still on her face. "Yes, yes of course." She led everyone through the open door to the living room.

Emma chose to plunk herself in one of the comfortable armchairs, that way the talkative lady, Mary, _her mother_, couldn't sit beside her. She watched as they all moved around, David made drinks for everyone, she was given a glass of apple and raspberry juice and an advil instead of the coffee she requested, she supposed it was better for her headache so she didn't bother to complain.

She focused on drinking the juice and only half listening to what was nearly identical to the usual speel between foster carers and social workers, it was only slightly changed due to Mary and David being her biological parents. Annie gave her a card with her number on it and told them all she would be back in a month for 'a catch up', but Emma knew that meant she would be checking to see who had messed up Emma or her 'family', she was probably already lining up Emma's next foster family or home. She also told Emma she had made an appointment for a therapist for Emma, to help her cope with all of the changes, "Can't wait", she had responded dryly.

Emma stayed in her seat with her backpack on the floor next to her boot as David showed Annie out.

"Maybe we should get to know each other." Mary suggested, she didn't know what she had expected Emma to be like, but she was desperate to find out what she was like, at the moment she was just… _quiet_, apart from the sarcastic remark of course.

David nodded his head, he had been as quiet and calm as he normally was, managing to hide his nerves, he wondered if Emma was like him, she had his hair and she was being quiet, which according to what they had been told about her from social workers was out of character, maybe she was nervous too.

When neither David, Neal, nor Emma decided to speak Mary plastered a smile upon her face and said brightly. "Why don't I start? I'm a fourth grade teacher, I am… not the best cook but I know a couple of recipes, traditional ones my mother taught me, I'm good at archery I used to practice at the club but I've not been for years, erm, I grew up in this house, it was my mothers and we moved here when I was seven, then it was mine and David's, and Neal's, and was going to be yours…" She suddenly remembered that she needed to breathe. I'm good at knitting and sewing, and I don't really know what else to say."

David took over next. "I'm a lawyer and when I'm not there I'm usually volunteering at the firestation, I _can_ cook," he smirked at his ex wife, "and I like watching soccer games, and I like art," He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and his easy smile darked just a little. "I also, I don't know if Annie told you, but me and Mary, we aren't together anymore."

Emma frowned. She had been trying to take in all the information but this was like she had run into a brick wall, how could they not be together? They were holding hands like half an hour ago, they keep smiling at each other. She looked from David to Mary to see if they were playing an ill timed joke, she glanced at Neal too, who looked pale and sweaty and like he was zoning out. Mary's smile had dropped and she was no longer looking at Emma. Had she been planning on pretending?

"You're divorced?"

"Yeah, for about twelve years." David said softly. "We don't argue or hate each other or anything, but I'm staying here for a few, for a while, a few months, to get to know you and so we can figure out being a family. I have a condo in the center of the city, when I move back there in a few months I'll sort a bedroom for you, and you and Neal can spend half your time there." He stumbled.

"Oh, okay, I guess." Emma said, mostly to stop David from trying to explain anymore than he already had. She looked at Neal automatically, how she used to look at August to save her from these sort of conversations, she forgot that he was a stranger too.

Neal knew the look Emma was sending him, though he was normally the one sending it, mostly to PJ or one of his cousins at big family parties. "I'm Neal, I'm going to be the year above you at school."

Emma's eyes widened, she hadn't actually attended school in so long that she had forgotten that legally she was meant to attend one every day, oh fuck, Mary was a teacher, and David was _all _about the law, she was going to be forced to go to school again. Why couldn't she have just kept control of the car? Why did her emotions have to control her power? Why couldn't _she _control her emotions? She had been so excited to be getting out of Metro City that her powers must have faltered or surged or something, causing her to lose control of the car, if she had just kept control of her emotions for once in her life she could have been anywhere but here.

She only half listened as Neal talked about wanting to study either some form of science or literature in college, Harvard or Yale or somewhere like that, and he liked books, and was on the swim team. Great, she had _that_ to live up to = a son who was academic and athletic vs _her _= a messed up runaway who had never put in a single day of effort at her various schools. It took her noticeably too long to notice that they were all staring at her waiting for her to tell them about her.

What was there to say? "I er, I spent most of my life in Metro City, I don't really," she thought to herself trying to figure out what to say then she thought about the graffiti she used to do on the side of buildings, "I guess I like art?" She offered slowly like it was a question rather than a statement, she was rewarded with a beaming smile from David for sharing an interest with him and she kind of regretted it. These were the people who were why she wasn't in the same city as her found family. She slowly added on things like enjoying coffee and grilled cheese and onion rings, and things like being pretty good at running, which had Mary suggest that she try out for the track team at the school, Emma hadn't the heart to inform her that she was only good at running as she had done so often away from cops or foster homes.

As she tried to think about what to say she twirled her cellphone around and around in her hand, the broken glass scratched at her hands but she ignored any pain, hell she barely noticed it.

"We can get you a new one tomorrow."

Emma's head snapped to David and she realised that he must have said something before that. She didn't know whether to play it polite or whether to play it like she couldn't care less. But instead a "What?" came out too loud and too clueless to play it either way.

"Your phone." David nodded his head at the small black cellphone in Emma's hand, the large edwardian style light hanging from the ceiling shone on the screen showing all the cracks. "It's smashed. We'll get you a new one tomorrow, and some more clothes, whatever you need."

Emma felt her cheeks warm when she watched all three of the Nolans look down at the backpack on the floor near her feet, it looked so dirty and out of place in the large brownstone, it looked too modern and too ragged for the classic features of the room, _she_ looked out of place in this house with these people, their clothes were perfectly ironed, good quality, they all looked like they could have easily have fit in to a different period of time. Hers were worn thin from previous owners, they were too big for her, and the colours were faded.

She grunted a thank you and nodded her head. Who was she to turn down new things?

She was saved by a ringing bell, she instinctively jumped and pulled her backpack onto her lap, but the Nolans must have been expecting it, all except Neal who jumped even before the bell rang. David and Mary both stood up, saying something about a robin or something. They both left the sitting room and headed to the front door.

She stood up… just in case she needed to flee.

"It's just Robin and Regina, they're dad's step parents, and Gina knew mom all mom's life."

There was a loud noise and two sets of feet going up the stairs, they were heavy and steady, two males, and there was still a whispering noise from the hallway, well maybe not whispering but hushed talking.

Emma was surprised at Neal's low calm voice, he was getting paler and sweating more and looked closer and closer to passing out. Yet here he was, trying to reassure her, she wondered if he had been the same when they were younger. "Are you okay?" She asked, allowing herself to soften her voice for the first time.

Neal hesitated, nodded his head, then winced. "Yeah I just, I think I have the flu or something, maybe a migraine. Sorry."

Emma didn't know what he was apologising for. "Did we…?" She trailed off.

"We never met." Neal told her, only guessing her question as the thought had been on his mind too. He gave her a half shrug and a comforting smile. "I guess it means there's no expectations between us, y'know? We can just start from the beginning."

Ah, so she hadn't been imagining the expectant looks from David and Mary, as though hanging on her every word and waiting for her to tell them that she remembered them. "You remind me of someone, my friend."

Neal frowned. "The friends you stole the car with?"

Emma stiffened, he didn't sound too judgemental, but he had the look on him which August wore when Emma suggested that they do something ever so slightly illegal, she normally got her way with him despite this. "_I _stole the car, they were just with me." She watched him nod and accept it and felt like perhaps she would have an ally here.

The noise from the hallway grew louder. The men, David and Robin, came down the stairs. The men's voices were louder but it was still too muffled for her to tell what exactly they were saying. Perhaps they had realised she was trying to listen to their conversation because Mary led David and a man and a woman into the living room where she and Neal were still stood quietly.

David took the lead to introduce them, pretty much what Neal had already told her, but her eyes were on the man and the woman. It took a minute to realise why they looked so familiar, she had seen them before. Not face to face, of course, but from a distance, or in the news when she was ten and they both announced they were retiring from being superheroes.

She remembered being slightly in awe of superheroes as a young child.

And also terrified.

That fear ran through her spine like ice water now. _Superheroes_. She was related to superheroes. As though reacting to their mere presence she felt the hum of her powers building inside of her, as though realising she should have been born with some too, she was horror struck as she imagined the powers building and building inside of her, overwhelming her, destroying her.

David's words broke through the red mist. 'Step dad'. She wasn't sure in what context he was saying it, he seemed to be laughing about something, some banter occuring between the two of them, she didn't know and she didn't care, the words worked like breaking a curse, she felt the hum die inside of her. She wasn't going to be obliterated, over powered, she could control the powers she had, she wasn't going to suddenly gain more.

She managed to keep her face perfectly calm all through this, and when she had calmed she nodded and gave Regina and Robin a small smile in greeting, but she didn't take their hands, she thought about it but imagined the stiff handshakes, or perhaps they were be able to sense her powers. She did not shake their hands.

She didn't speak as they rest of them talked, she was glad that none of them tried too hard to get her to speak, but as she kept her eyes firmly on the floorboards, polished and perfect like the rest of the house, she felt their eyes on her as though trying to figure her out, as though wondering why she wasn't so excited to be in this home with these strangers.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

They stood for twenty minutes or so, Emma saying yes and no to a couple of questions but ignoring the rest, eventually the topic of dinner and pizza came up.

She spoke up. "I'm tired, can I just go to my room? Please?" She added as an afterthought.

Mary Margaret opened her mouth, her green eyes wide and doe like, they were sad and hopeful.

But David interrupted her. "Yeah, of course you can. We just set you up a bed."

"Thanks." She realised that there must not have been one in whichever room she would be in, she nearly apologised for any inconvenience but she thought of Lily and knew that _she _would never apologise, Emma would not either. She stared at David waiting for him to lead the way, it took him a minute to realise she wanted to go right then.

The stairs were old and steep, a deep forest green carpet covering the center, a slightly darker shade than the deep green painted on the walls.

She tried her best to take in all that David told her, Mary was following hot on her tail but was quiet for the first time since Emma had met her, she had a feeling that Mary was disappointed that Emma had already decided to seclude herself but Emma didn't care about what this stranger wanted. Emma wanted to be with _her_ family, she was tired, her head hurt and her body ached, and she felt homesick without a home.

They walked past Neal's room, an old child's nameplate on the wooden door, a bathroom, a spare room, storage cupboards, and then they arrived at a shut door. David paused at the door as though he hit an invisible barrier. It took him a few seconds to come out of his head and open the door.

There was no question that the bedroom had not been changed since she had gone missing, well other than forty minutes ago when David and Robin added a bed with a mattress, they had moved the crib from the centre of the far wall and placed the bed in its place. The walls were cream, the colours all neutral, and the rug on the floor was multicoloured. On the shelves were more toys than Emma had owned in her entire childhood, but they were clearly only meant for her early years, she suddenly had no doubt that she would have been bought even more once she had grown. The built in bookcases held more toys and books and even photographs.

She bit her lip as she looked around the room, trying to take it all in, it was overwhelming in a way to realise that they really _had_ wanted her.

"Gina's going to order pizza."

Neal's voice made her snap her head towards the door, where he stood, she hadn't heard him come up, and he was looking at Emma and his parents as though he had asked a question. David nodded at him and Neal disappeared, leaving Emma ally-less.

"Why don't we have pizza and then we can organise all of your erm your things?" Mary's voice was light and hopeful, faltering almost imperceptibly when her eyes flickered to Emma's small backpack, there was no way she had enough things she would need to organise anything.

But Emma was in no mood to agree to this, her head really _was _sore from the crash despite the stitches working to heal it, and she didn't know the Nolans' well enough to try to play happy families on the first night here.

She looked at Mary with the same sad doe eyes Mary had been wearing until a minute ago. "I'm really tired, and I'm not hungry, I think I just need some sleep." She finished her statement with a small smile.

Mary opened her mouth, she had been missing her daughter for fifteen years and she wanted to know everything about her, she wanted to talk to her and spend her birthday with her.

David interjected before Mary could protest. "Of course, we understand don't we, Mare?"

She hesitated for only a half second before regaining her decorum and smoothing a smile onto her face. "Of course. I'll go and get some sheets and things for your bed." She smiled at her daughter, she had to force herself out of the room and to the airing cupboard.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

Alone in the room with her father Emma didn't know what to do or say, so she settled for slowly wandering around the room, she found herself drawn to the shelves and the photo frames displayed on them.

There was one of a wedding, Mary and David's judging by the white dress Mary was wearing, there was a baby in David's arms, judging by his dark hair and the pride David was wearing on his face it was Neal, her brother.

Beside this one was a picture of a teenager, a guy with blonde hair and a defined jaw, and judging by the way he smiled it was David. Beside him was a woman who presumably was David's mother, she looked kind, and the guy who Neal had identified as David's step dad but Emma knew as the superhero The Merry Man.

"That's who you're named after. My mom, Ruth."

Emma managed to refrain from jumping in surprise hearing David's voice, she had forgotten he was there. "I'm called Ruth?" She frowned turning and frowning as she tried to imagine being called Ruth.

David let out a chuckle. "No, no, I meant your middle name is Ruth; she died when Neal was still a baby, so we gave you her name as a middle one."

Emma nodded her head slowly and gave him a small smile hoping to show her sympathy. "And that guy is your dad? Like your step dad?"

David nodded smiling at the picture. "Yeah, he's been my dad since my birth dad since mine left me, my mother, and my twin brother."

Emma tried not to show her relief, she already had enough trouble trying to keep her superpowers under control, she didn't need to discover she had inherited even more, not such powerful ones at least.

"Mary's just excited."

"What?"

"Mary, she's, she never accepted that you had died, she's been searching for fifteen years for you, now you're here she's just really excited, I know she might be, well a lot, right now… but… just give her time to get used to you being back…"

Emma frowned ever so slightly, she wasn't used to men in her life defending their wives, let alone their ex-wives. She gave a jerky nod. "Yeah… Fifteen years… I don't think I would have believed for that long, especially if I was told they were dead." She scuffed her sneaker against the floorboards, when she looked back at David his eyes were shining and he had to clear his throat.

"I wouldn't…" He sucked in a deep break. He squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them again he smiled at Emma. "I'm going to go give Mary a hand."

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

Alone in the room Emma felt as though she had a little more air, at least, she looked away from the photos when the enormity of having a family, having a past, hit her.

She heard a knock on the doorway of the room and when she looked up she saw Neal standing in the doorway again, his hands shoved into his pockets, he still looked like shit but gave her a small smile, it took her a moment to realise that he was waiting for her to invite him into her room. "You can come in, if you want?" Her eyebrows quirked in amusement.

Neal took a step over the threshold, feeling as though he had made it through some invisible barrier, he never came in this room, it felt alien to him, but the girl standing opposite him, who her wavy blonde hair and her amused expression felt so familiar to him it set him at ease. "It's weird being in here." He admitted.

"You're telling me." Her eyes flickered to the photographs of strangers she was meant to know and care for, before landing back on her brother.

Neal held his cellphone out towards her. "I know yours is broken and you're getting one tomorrow, but I thought maybe you'd want to let your friends know that you're safe, my mom and dad said you were with them when you crashed, I don't know if you've seen them."

Emma took the phone, if only to stop him rambling, and smiled at him, and she meant it. "Thanks Neal. I'll DM them on instagram." She pressed the app and it came up with Neal's account, the dash appeared in an instant and on it was a picture someone with the handle 'pjaustin' had posted, Neal was in it along with another guy, possibly the PJ Austin in question. It must have been before Neal got sick because she found herself looking at a picture of him where he looked quite similar to herself, his easy smile was familiar from the photos her friends had taken of her; she was struck by the realisation that they both looked like David did when he smiled.

She quickly shook that thought off and went to August's blog, it was weird messaging him, the brother she had chosen, while her biological brother stood by her side. She shot him a quick message saying it was her, that she was with her bio family, that her phone was broken but she'd message him an explanation tomorrow when she had a replacement. She sent the same message to Lily then handed the phone back to Neal. "Thanks."

"Any time."

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

David took a moment to brush away his tears before going to find Mary Margaret, she was in her bedroom, the one which used to be both of theirs, it felt weird being in there, like he didn't belong anymore, which he supposed he didn't.

"You need a hand?"

Mary jumped, her hand flew to her heart and she glared at David, while still smiling a little. "You scared me." She watched him smile and hold his hands up in surrender. "I was just looking for a quilt I'm sure I used to have one in here." She dug back into the pile and pulled out a yellow one with a "Aha!"

David smiled and looked down at the bed where there was already a duvet, some sheets, and blankets, along with a pair of joggers and an old sweatshirt, clearly like him she had noticed Emma's ratty clothes, there wasn't a guarantee she would have clean things to sleep in. It took him a moment to realise that the sweatshirt looked familiar. He picked it up and read the crest declaring the wearer a member of Hyperion Heights University's Law school. It had been his.

"Neal used to sleep in that when he was little."

But David could smell Mary's perfume on it.

Between them they carried the clothes and bedding and made quick work of adding all the bedding to the bed while Emma got changed into the clothes she had gratefully accepted from Mary.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

When she was finally left alone Emma curled up in her new bed, the room was bigger than any she had ever slept in alone, she buried herself further under the duvet. Before she knew it the drugs had lulled her into an uneasy sleep.

Mary crept into Emma's bedroom an hour later, a can of coke, a bottle of water, and a plate with four slices of different pizza in hand. Hoping to entice Emma into coming downstairs to bond with the rest of them, or even for Mary to stay with her while she ate and they could talk to each other. But Emma was fast asleep. She tried not to feel too disappointed as she placed the plate and drinks onto the bookcase near the head of the bed where Emma would be able to see it.

"Happy birthday, baby girl." She whispered to her, staying there for another five minutes just watching the teenager sleep, eventually she tore herself away, Neal was sick so she could soothe the maternal instincts she was currently overflowing with.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thank you very much for all of your kind comments and words, this week has been rather difficult for me, I turned 23 and then two days later my grandfather died, writing has definitely been a good way to cope.**_

* * *

_**2am, Nolan House, Hyperion Heights.**_

It was two in the morning and Mary Margaret couldn't sleep. She had tried everything. She had tried watching a movie, she had tried to put all electronics far away from her, she had tried reading a book, and listening to music. Hell she had even tried taking a lavender scented bath but it had just given her a headache.

So she found herself where she had lingered before going to bed. Emma's bedroom. Mary kept pinching herself to remind herself that this was all real, Emma was really alive, she was really here. She was a teenager, and both nothing and everything Mary imagined her to be. She had been born with hair as dark as Neal's, but now it was so light, even lighter than David's used to be, she hadn't expected that, but it was a nice surprise.

She just wished that Emma had spent more time with them, that she had actually talked to them, that she had talked to _her_.

Over dinner Regina had subtly warned her not to push Emma, Mary had been an angry teenager once too and wouldn't have appreciated someone trying to talk to her if she didn't want to... but it didn't stop Mary's heart from longing.  
It didn't stop her from standing in Emma's room watching her breathing as she did for those few hours after her birth, trying to place the features of the newborn Emma onto the face of this teenage Emma.

She wasn't stupid, she could tell that Emma had been avoiding her, David had proudly told Mary that he was telling Emma about Ruth, but Emma had barely even looked at her. Mary was trying to keep her spirits high, in fact not just her spirits but everyones, which seemed to gain her more glares from Emma.

She didn't stay for long in Emma's room, well not as long as she wanted to, if Emma didn't want her there while she was awake Mary felt wrong stealing the time with her while she was asleep. Emma must have woken up at some point as the pizza she had brought her was eaten and the drinks drank. She took up the plate to take with her.

She made her way downstairs deciding to make herself some tea, that usually soothed her anxiety, she didn't know if it would work tonight but it was worth a try.

As she passed the living room she could see a light on. That was unusual. She had seen Emma in her room, but Neal had been unwell, maybe it was him. She frowned and entered the room, ready to fuss over her son.

But it was David sat on the couch, the light was not coming from a lamp but from the screen of his laptop.

She was about to open her mouth to speak but she stopped herself. David was sat deep in thought, she had never told him but that had been the look she most loved about him, he always masked it when he was around people though, she didn't know why he felt the need to. He also looked good, that wasn't surprising, she knew that he took care of himself, but it was unusual for her to see him in person out of the shirts and suits he wore to work. It was unusual to see him with his hair curled from being tussled a little too much. It was a good look on him. He looked up and their eyes met, before he could open his mouth to ask why she was staring at him she gave him a small smile and stepped into the living room, it was on her way to the kitchen anyway, just a slightly different way to get there.

"Are you working?"

David's face scrunched up in confusion before it cleared and he smiled at his ex. "I'm not working. I was just…" He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck, before turning his laptop so she could see the screen.

It was blank and she was about to say so, but then he hit the spacebar and a video began to play.

It was clearly made by David, a home video starting with the last photograph taken of baby Emma, Mary's breath hitched as she watched the photograph fade, it was replaced with one of the first photographs of them together, before they were even dating, it was a trip to the movies with mutual friends, the photos progressed, the early years of their relationship, Mary's pregnancy with Neal, David was there supporting and loving her, photos from Neal's birth, them moving into the house they were currently in, Mary's pregnancy with Emma, until eventually they were back to Emma's few hours with them.

She felt a stab through her heart. David had closed down after losing Emma, he had accepted the police report that she really was dead, they had fractured and eventually broke. They had divorced. Mary had hated him but eventually they had become civil with each other again, for their son's sake.

She had thought he had forgotten about Emma, besides perhaps an instagram post once a year memorialising her, he had moved on while she couldn't, wouldn't. This had been his way to cope.

"You made this?" Her voice soft, she was across the room from him and it was too dark, but she was certain she could see his sea blue eyes sparkle with tears.

He gave a single assertive nod. "During those years we were searching." His voice took on a sudden edge. "Before they lied to us." His face was lined with years of worry and grief.

Mary knew that if they hadn't been lied to they would still be married. She swallowed. Then nodded her head showing that she understood. She opened her mouth but quickly closed it. How could she even start to talk about all that had happened? It was too much. And now was not the right time.

"I couldn't sleep. I was going to make some tea but I think I need some hot chocolate." She said instead. "Do you want a cup?"

A smile appeared on David's face, instantly making him look ten years younger. "I'd love one."

David followed Mary through to the kitchen, while she started to make the hot chocolate he moved to get mugs, only when he opened the cupboard door he found plates.

"They're in the one to the left of the fridge."

David nodded but he felt even more like a stranger in the place which had once been his home. He didn't even know where the mugs were anymore. He located them from the right cupboard and placed them on the worktop next to the hob where Mary was stirring the cream and chocolate together. Along with two sticks of cinnamon.

"Smells good. It's been ages since I had it with cinnamon." He leant back against the counter watching Mary. He's be lying if he claimed not to find the grey and pink checked pyjamas she was wearing rather cute.

"Sorry, I should have asked! I can remake some without-"

"I like it with cinnamon, Snow." He told her softly, cutting off her apologies and babbling, smiling fondly at her as he used her nickname again. She had been the one who had gotten him hooked on hot

Mary finally looked towards, tilting her head back to look at his face, she became how close they were standing, she could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he stared at her, she could smell the faint remnants of his aftershave from the morning before, she sucked in a breath.

What the hell was she doing? Why was she even looking at David that way? They had been apart for longer than they had ever been together, he was her ex and there was a reason for that.

No, she was just caught up in the emotion of everything that had happened that day, overwhelmed by memories of the past and not thinking clearly. She looked back at the pot of hot chocolate, stirring it only once more before moving to pour it into the mugs David had retrieved, she stood deliberately with her back to David as she poured it.

She handed David one of the mugs, taking the other for herself and sitting on a stool at the island. David joined her, sitting a couple of seats away, a safe enough distance for the both of them. "Have you ever dealt with kids who have been abused like she was?"

David swallowed his mouthful of hot chocolate, scolding his throat, he nodded his head once.

"Do they ever get back to normal?"

David hesitated. "It depends." He admitted. "And with Emma we didn't know what she was like, would have been like, I think we have to just wait." He finished with a defeated sigh. He wished that he could tell her that everything would be fine, Emma would turn out well adjusted and happy in just one week, but he tried his best not to lie to Mary.

* * *

-WCBH-

* * *

_**4am, Nolan House, Hyperion Heights:**_

Neal slept fitfully through the night, having gone to bed not long after dinner, he tossed and turned nearly falling out of bed several times. He woke to his darkened bedroom, the only light coming from the display of his alarm clock and from the light polluted purple city sky outside of his open blinds.

He groaned and squeezed his eyes, slowly opening them when he had adjusted his eyes to the light. "Is this what it's like to have a hangover?" He asked the empty room as he sat up.

He flexed his hand into a fist then relaxed it, there was a slight tug from where he was bitten, but it wasn't the same pain as the day before. He steeled himself and rolled up his sweatshirt, his imagination running wild that he would see a swollen infected arm… but there was barely even a mark, if he wasn't looking for it, he probably wouldn't have even noticed the red spot like scratch. He was suddenly glad he hadn't told his parents or PJ that he got ill after being bitten by the spider, if they asked to see it today it would look pathetically small and not even slightly infected. He must have just come down with the flu or something.

He was just debating grabbing his headphones to lull himself back to sleep when he heard a loud steady beat coming from the room next to his own. Emma. He didn't know what the hell she was doing, playing a djembe drum or something, he had once seen one being played in a special school assembly, he waited a few moments to see if his mother or father would go running to his sister's room, but when neither of them came thundering down the hallway Neal pushed himself to his feet and slowly crept out of his bedroom down the dimly lit hall.

The beat grew louder and louder, growing a little faster as he approached the door. The door flew open and Emma started to walk out. A cold fear set into his heart and before he could think he spoke up. "Are you leaving?"

Emma jumped, her hand flew to her heart, and she turned on her heels to look towards the owner of the voice. Neal, her brother. Despite the dim light she could she his wide eyed kicked-puppy look, she felt a sudden pang of loss for August, and for Lily, it stilled her walking. She shook her head, truthfully, then rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. "No, I was, I couldn't sleep." She admitted. Thinking of the coffee she had been on her way to brew.

Neal nodded slowly, it was clear now, to him that she wasn't about to run away; she had no bag with her, she had messy hair from a sleep as disturbed as his own, and she was still wearing the makeshift pyjamas his, _their_, parents had found for her the night before. He had a sudden memory of his mother wearing the sweater Emma was in right now, after Neal's father had left.  
It also became clear to him that the beat wasn't music, it was Emma's heartbeat, it was slow yet steady, it was calm, as was Emma.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have assumed." He said, the manners his parents had instilled in him overtaking his confusion and fear as to why he could hear Emma's heartbeat from a different room.

"It's fine, I don't really blame you, I probably would have thought the same."

"I'm sorry for spooking you too." He added quickly. The two stood in silence for a second. Emma looked like she was about to leave, go back into her bedroom, but this was the little sister he had been waiting for nearly his entire life. He needed to say something, to stop her.

Emma was struck by a sense of deja-vu, of August saying the same thing to her, though he was laughing after deliberately spooking her then feigning innocence. She stopped herself from retreating. "How are you feeling? You look better."

"I'm feeling," he paused for a second to think about how he was feeling, maybe a little worse for wear, but he felt good, really good in fact, "a little shit, but I feel better."

A wicked smile appeared on Emma's face hearing him swear, she was worried they would be a whole family of people who might have collective heart attacks hearing her utter a swear word, and that Neal would be some stuck up rich boy.

"I was thinking about getting some ice cream." That was a lie but it suddenly came into his mind. "I used to always have ice cream when I was sick, me and my mom, I'm not really feeling that bad anymore, but maybe we could have some?"

Emma tamed her smile but still kept it in place. "Sounds good."

They made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"We have vanilla, raspberry ripple, or smores?"

"Smores." She answered without hesitation.

Neal smiled and pulled out a pint of smores.

It wasn't his favourite flavour but he remembered his mom buying it especially for him. He had been seven and had gotten chicken pox, he had been miserable and so upset but his father hadn't been there, he had been sick, really sick, his mom had said, Neal hardly saw him that year, Neal missed him, so Mary had bought Neal David's favourite ice cream and had watched star wars with Neal, Neal knew that Mary didn't like those sorts of films but she did so to make Neal happy.

He scooped two spoonfuls into two bowls and handed one to Emma.

Emma gratefully dug in, she had been left some pizza by someone in her bedroom the night before, but she found her stomach a chasm which could never be filled. The ice cream would be a start though. "What's your school like?"

Neal smiled and began to tell her all about it, about his friends, about PJ especially, about how he was on the swim team, how he loved science and books, and that one day he would write a better story than Star Wars.

"A character more badass than Han Solo?" Emma rose one of her eyebrows.

Neal grinned. "Princess Leia." He countered. There was a beat of silence then Emma laughed, it was so light and happy Neal wasn't sure that Emma would have been capable of it had he not seen it himself.

"Good point." Emma finally said when she stopped laughing.

"How about you?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want to do, y'know, when you're older?"

"Oh." Emma frowned down at her melting ice cream. "I've never really thought about it. I guess I'll find some job, I guess." She shrugged.

Neal realised Emma didn't want to talk about that any further. "When I was little, I wanted to be like my grandpa Robin, he always seemed so cool flying around saving everyone… when I got older I realised that he's a dork."

"What's he do now?" She asked her curiosity getting the better of her.

"He owns a store, sporting and outdoor goods, but he only pops in there, he spends more of his time at his pub, he doesn't need the money but he loves it there, it reminds him of England I guess, we go sometimes, me and dad, I'm sure you'll get to come soon."

Emma tried to imagine herself sitting in some British pub like she had seen in some tv shows and movies, around her Neal and David, maybe even Mary Margaret. "Is your mom always so…"

"Overbearing?" Neal suggested. He sighed heavily then shrugged. "I guess. But she's the best mom ever, and I'm not just saying that, she's been through a lot and she's still always kind and understanding, she likes to be organised so I think today threw her a bit." He chuckled before locking eyes with Emma. "Give her a chance, please Emmy?"

Emma had never been called Emmy before, but the familiarity with how he said it made it clear to her that Neal had been calling her that for a long time, even if she wasn't there. She nodded. "Okay. But if we're going shopping tomorrow I'm going to need some backup, I'm really not girly." She watched as Neal laughed, it looked like a weight had been taken off of his shoulders. She would give Mary a chance, for him.


	8. Chapter 8

So this has been a long time coming, I hope this massive chapter will make up for having to wait so long.

Sadly all my fanfics are taking a while to write as of late as I have had a tension headache for the past 9 weeks without a single break, which means I can barely sit up which makes writing harder.

I hope that you're all staying safe in this crazy world we're currently living in!

* * *

All four of the Nolan household had slept well after their late night talks, even Neal had eventually put aside his self questioning - drowned out all the sounds he could suddenly hear, and fell asleep.

When morning came they all found themselves well rested as though they had finally slept after years of being awake.

But morning got off to a bad start when Emma went to grab a mug of coffee to go with her eggs and toast, and instead received a ten minute lecture from Mary about teenagers and caffeine intake and how it could affect their hearts and could lead to her developing a caffeine addiction. Instead she was offered tea, a wide variety of different types, she pulled a face at her biological mother and poured cranberry juice into a glass tumbler which was on the island, before taking a seat beside Neal, still glowering. Mary slowly sipped her tea, her face identical to Emma's.

David quickly drank his coffee in case Mary was going to decide that he should lead by example, then poured another so there would be none left for Emma to steal.

Neal took it upon himself to lighten the mood. "Mom, I need some new clothes, none of mine fit anymore." It was a convenient truth that overnight he seemed to have grown overnight, though he knew that was impossible, now all his clothes were about three inches too short.

This seemed to work, Mary smiled and happily and told him that she would help him find some things, Neal's cheeks pinked a little as Emma smirked that his mom still helped pick out his clothes, but the tense atmosphere had dissipated.

David found himself absently sending a message to one of his clients as he watched his kids, he hadn't meant to still be thinking about work, but he finished the text anyway. He would be off until Emma went to school the next week so he wouldn't be missing much work, but he would be missing a case the next day, he had handed it off to an associate, but he sent another apology to his client and assured her that her case was in good hands. He knew that he worked a lot, but he wanted to help people and this was the best way he knew how, and he genuinely cared about the people he represented. He had also received a text from both James and Robin so quickly replied if only to keep them off of his back.

It was weird, to be eating breakfast with people who weren't Lily and August, but who also weren't a new group or foster home. Neal and Mary were clearly at ease as they moved around collecting food and drinks, David was a bit like her, he didn't seem in place, not entirely, it made sense as he didn't actually live here.

They finished their food and Emma slipped on her shoes she had worn the day before, they were a bit beat but they were good enough, still when she looked at David, Mary, and Neal she couldn't help but feel more out of place. She dug her hand into her pocket, her phone was there as usual she knew it didn't work and that she would be given a new one but it felt comforting having it there, she felt closer to Lily and August even if she couldn't actually talk to them yet.

They headed out of the city in David's big SUV, unlike Annie's minivan though this felt new, pristinely clean, and expensive.

The mall was just outside of the city, not too far as Mary kept saying, Neal told her that he sometimes went there with his friends and that she could go with him, Mary was quieter then, Emma was pretty sure that she didn't want Emma to go very far from her. Objectively she didn't blame her, she had lost Emma for years, but unobjectively she wanted to go purely because Mary didn't want her to.

* * *

The mall was huge, it was bigger than any others she had been inside, there had been one nearly the same size in MetroCity, but she had never gone to it as the security had been too observant and she couldn't afford to buy things. She tried not to steal too much, the clothes she had on she had stolen from a second hand store, things which were so worn they were barely worth stealing, that way the second hand store wasn't losing much money.

Emma was flanked by Mary as they headed toward the clothing stores, Emma could see just from the shiny lit up signs and the massive amount of clothes that these were expensive stores. Half of the brands around she didn't even know, he could see a shirt Neal was currently on a mannequin in one of the windows, she thumbed her phone in her pocket and tried not to think about the fact that she could have had these things her whole life if she hadn't been taken.

Emma followed Mary into a store, it seemed to be aimed at teenagers judging by the style of clothing, and the pop music playing loudly over the speakers, not really her favourite style of music but she wasn't about to offer that to Mary and David if she didn't have to. It would be easier for when they were finally sick of her if they didn't know much about her.

"Why don't we split up?" Mary suggested, looking from her kids to her ex husband. "I'll take Emma to look at some clothes and you can take Neal?"

"Sounds good to me." David grinned, he clapped his hand onto Neal's shoulder affectionately. "Let's get you some new clothes bud." His smile became slightly less wild looking as he looked at Emma, more tender. "Once you've gotten your clothes I'll take you to pick out a phone."

"Thanks." Emma said, relieved that David remembered so she didn't have to try and hint at it herself, no sooner had she got it out did Mary pull out a list and lead her away to a distinctly pink section of the store.

"Okay, first things first," Mary said as she pulled out a paper list on what looked like flowery paper, the words were in different coloured pen for different things, "do you know what size clothes you are?"

Emma tore her eyes away from the list, she couldn't help but wonder if they were really related, they were just so different. "Erm, fourteen to fifteen? I think?"

Mary gave her a kind and patient smile. "Okay, we can pick some clothes out and you can try them on."

Emma started to pursue the clothes beside her on the stand while Mary went to look at some hung on the walls.

All the clothes around the place were either pink or lilac, they were skirts and dresses, crop tops, things with captions on she was fairly certain she was meant to relate to but she definitely didn't. After nearly twenty minutes Mary was by her side again, this time she had a pile of clothes draped over her arm, the smile was still plastered onto her face even when she saw that Emma didn't have any clothes with her.

"Why don't you try these on, we can see if they fit and you can see if you like the styles, if you do you can pick out more like them, if not we can start again."

Mary's tone was light but Emma still winced. Even when when she had been with Lily she hated clothes shopping, she either didn't like the clothes or they were fine, she had never really bothered to find things she liked.  
"Sure, sounds like a plan." Emma said, trying her best to distract Mary from the wince. She followed Mary again, this time to the dressing rooms, she didn't miss Mary glancing behind every few steps to make sure that Emma was still there. Emma tried her best not to snap at her for doing so. She wasn't used to being seen.

Emma took the clothes and made her way into a small cubicle, it wasn't like the cheap stores she had been in, it had solid walls instead of fabric ones. She could practically hear Lily's voice in her head telling her it would be easier to steal things in these sort of cubicles because they couldn't see as much of their movements.

The first outfit was a fitted powder lilac dress. It fitted like a glove, it looked good on her, it felt comfortable, but absolutely everything about it was wrong. She looked into the mirror pulling a face at the dress on her, she had just never really been a dress sort of girl. She was about to leave to show Mary, to come up with an excuse when she caught sight of a scar creeping over her shoulder from her back like a vine. She tasted bile in her mouth.

She was so quick to take the dress off that she stumbled and fell against the wall of the cubicle.

As the loud bang of Emma falling reverberated Mary stood as fast as she could from her seat in the waiting area. "Emma?" She called and when she didn't receive an answer she jiggled the door of the cubicle but it was locked. "Emma?!"

"I'm okay." Emma pulled the door open to prove to Mary that she really was. She had managed to pull on the clothes she had been wearing before, they were so hastily thrown on that she hadn't even done up the buttons of her jeans, and her sweatshirt was half drooped down her unscarred shoulder. "I'm okay, I just, the dress didn't fit comfortably, I felt claustrophobic in it, but I tripped over my feet as I pulled it off."

Mary let out a relieved and ragged breath. "Thank goodness." Her hand was pressed to her heart as though the mere possibility of Emma being hurt hurt her too. "I thought you might have passed out, with your concussion from yesterday, maybe we came out here too soon, maybe it would have been better to just stay home."

Emma would have much preferred that, she _hated_ shopping, she didn't like any of the clothes Mary had found, she hadn't connected with Mary but looking at Mary now, looking so worried and scanning her as though trying to see if she was experiencing symptoms of concussion. She gave her a small tentative smile. "I'm okay Mary, I promise I'm fine, I'm just a bit clumsy."

Mary's panicked face smoothed to smile. "Me too." She admitted. "David always, he always used to tease me, when we were younger." Her smile dimmed ever so slightly. "I'll go put the dress back while you try on that outfit." She held her hand out to Emma who passed her the dress. She placed it back and took a second to recompose herself and remember to firmly shut the door between her present and her past.

She arrived back in the fitting rooms as Emma was coming out in her new outfit. It was similar to the sort of clothes which her friends' kids, around Neal's age, wore. It suited Emma a lot and she was about to say so when she saw Emma's face. She was clearly trying her best to smile, but her hands were balled into fists at her side awkwardly. "You don't like it?"

Emma's mouth fell open as she tried to find the words. "No, no it's fine, it's cool, I-"

"Emma, it's okay." Mary's voice was calm yet certain. "It's not your style, I wouldn't expect you to wear something you're not one hundred percent comfortable in. Is the sweater you're wearing today more your style?"

Emma's mouth was still slightly agape but not from trying to find an excuse but because everything she had seen she hadn't expected Mary to be so accepting, okay maybe not everything Mary had done but the sort of PTA mom she was, Emma had experienced before. She glanced at the sweatshirt balled up on the floor of the changing room then back to Mary.  
"Kind of, it was comfortable and around my size, there wasn't exactly a lot of choice where I got it from." She left Mary to work out how she got it. "I've never really figured out what my style is."

"Well, we'll figure that out today." Mary let out in a small sigh but the smile on her face made it seem determined. "Why don't you get changed back into your clothes and then we'll go look at other stuff, anything you want, we'll figure out your style."

A genuine smile appeared on Emma's face "That sounds nice. Thank you, Mary." She changed back into her clothes before coming back out.

She handed the outfit she had tried on to the fitting room clerk before turning back to Mary Margaret. "I'm sorry that I'm not girly, I'm sure it's one of the things you were looking forward to before I was born, I mean you already had Neal, anyway," she shook her head at her own rambling, "I'm sorry I'm not very girly."

Emma began to walk but Mary stopped her, she turned her back towards her, Mary's hands were on her shoulders and Emma was forced to stare into her eyes, she realised for the first time that they were the exact same shade as her own.

"_Emma_." She froze as she realised the same thing that Emma had: they share the same eye colour, she had never thought they would ever match, when Emma was a newborn she was blue eyed and Mary hadn't thought they would change as Neal's hadn't. She realised she had waited a little too long and didn't want Emma to pull away from her again.  
"_Emma_, all I've ever wanted was for you to be healthy and happy, that was what I wanted before you were born and that's what I want now. You could dress in pink and dye your skin and hair pink or you could dress in potato sacks, I wouldn't care so long as you were happy." She stared into her eyes until she was certain that Emma had got the message. Then she cracked a smile. "I might worry about you catching a cold if you wore only potato sacks though."

Emma let out a laugh before she could even think about restraining herself. It was the first time she had laughed since she had been separated from August and Lily, and she realised that she didn't hate it. "Thanks. For everything."

Mary trusted her gut and pulled her in for a quick hug, only long enough for her to squeeze her tight to her, then let go again. "Let's go and pick some things out, before your father and brother get bored."

* * *

An hour later they were meeting David and Neal in a Starbucks, one of many in the mall, David handed her over a chocolate frappuccino and when she took a long sip she was relieved to find that he had gotten her one with coffee in it.

She looked up and met David's sparkling blue eyes. "Thank you." She mouthed to her father as Neal handed their mom- Mary, a white cup which Emma was fairly certain contained tea.

"So, I was thinking." Mary said when they had all finally settled down at a table with four chairs. She took a long sip of her tea before continuing. "I can take Neal to get a new school uniform and we can pick up yours too Emma, so you don't have to go through more clothes shopping, and you can take her to pick up her phone?" The last part was phrased as a question to David who had already bought Neal some new clothes, he was drinking more coffee but she knew it was no longer her job to reprimand him about his health.

"Sounds good to me." He looked to Emma to make sure she was okay, and she seemed happy but he was fairly sure that was because she would be getting a new phone rather than being excited about spending time with him. "How did shopping go?" He asked looking from Mary to Emma. He had given Mary a spare key to his car so she could put things in the trunk through the day as could he.

"It was good," Emma admitted, "I'm not really a girly girl so clothes shopping isn't really my deal, but," she looked at Mary smiling and nodding ever so slightly, "we had fun. I found some stuff; mostly jeans and tshirts, I got some cool plaid shirts, and some sneakers." She wiggled her toes in the new converse she was wearing even though they couldn't see them.

"The plaid was a lot like the ones you used to wear." Mary smiled slightly at David before remembering herself and looking back down at her cup.

"I probably still have the same ones-" He took a big breath in as though he was about to say something but he cut himself off before he could accidentally let slip that he remembered Mary stealing the plaid often. He cleared his throat and looked down at his coffee.

"So..." Emma said once an awkward silence had fallen on the table, even Neal seemed to be frowning and looking between his, _their_, parents as though trying to figure out what was going on, Emma thought it was pretty obvious. "This school? I have to wear a uniform?"

"You get used to it." Neal reassured her. "And most people end up wearing their own jackets or adding pin badges and stuff to their blazers, or wearing t-shirts under the white school shirts."

"You start on Monday, your social worker helped us sort it out, they were happy to accept you." David told her, happy for the change in subject. "I'll take you and Nee and pick you both up, Mary goes to work a little earlier and works a little later so it makes more sense than you two having to hang around."

Mary nodded in agreement, she and David had already discussed it of course, and it made sense given that David would be living with them for a while. "The school's good, they said they'd be getting to know you in your first week, seeing your strengths and weaknesses, helping you wherever you need it. They had so many extra curriculars, I thought that once you've settled in you might want to join one or a couple."

"I'm not really the joining sorta girl." Emma shrugged. "But I'll give it a look." She promised only to stop Mary from either looking disappointed or trying to convince her.

* * *

Their coffee break was short, after whatever it was that happened between Mary and David both seemed intent on carrying on the shopping trip as quickly as they could, Emma was fine with that as there was no way she could cope with any more clothes shopping, she didn't feel bad about Neal having to go through it because he didn't seem too bothered and it was every man for himself.

"I'll put you on my family plan." David told her as they walked towards a block of silver and glass tech stores.

Emma nodded her head but was more focused on the security guards who were standing outside each store. "Wait does that mean you'll be able to read all my texts and stuff?" Her eyes formed into a slight glare as she looked up at David who was already shaking his head.

"No, of course not. Emma we wouldn't do that, the only possible time we might ask to see your cellphone is if we think you're talking to someone you shouldn't be. You will have privacy with us, Em, I promise." He locked his eyes on her as he spoke, narrowly avoiding falling into a trashcan.

She glanced up into his blue eyes then nodded her head, there was an honesty in them which seemed, to Emma, to be unwavering. She sent him a small tight smile to show she understood and believed him. She was going to say that she wasn't used to family plans and things of the like but decided to keep her mouth shut, it sounded way too pathetic to say it out loud.

The store they headed into was fairly quiet, like the rest of the mall, it was only a wednesday so Emma supposed it made sense. David indicated she should look around and began to browse himself, Emma was slightly relieved at that he wasn't going to be standing over her, as much as she had (eventually) enjoyed her time with Mary Margaret it was clear that David and Mary had two very different styles of parenting, and she preferred David's calm, hands off sort of style.

She found herself stood in front of one of the latest phones, it was one which was about eighty times better than the version she had in her pocket, it was nearly the size of her two hands put together, there was no way she would be able to keep it in her pocket, hell she doubted she would even be able to use it to type unless she typed with one finger like some old person. She shuffled to the next one without even trying to pick the first up.

This phone was also a lot better than her own, which granted wasn't hard but that didn't stop it being an impressive phone, and although it was a little bigger than her own phone she was pretty sure she could still fit it in her pocket. Hypothetically, it didn't have a price tag on it, and Emma knew that meant it was very expensive. But she was just looking, so what was the harm in looking closer at the specifications? As she was reading about the top of the range camera she helped eyes on her. She looked up quickly and saw David staring at her. She straightened up and moved towards where cheaper phones were attached to the wall, they were pretty good too, well good enough, there was one which was basically hers but with an unsmashed screen. Truthfully all she needed was an internet connection and a camera and she would be happy.

David slowly made his way to Emma, his hands were in his jean pockets, he looked a lot younger than he had in his suit the day before. "What phone were you looking at?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

Emma looked up at David then back at the wall of phones, she picked up the block the one she was looking at, she could feel the pull of the bungeecord it was secured to the wall with as she showed it to David. "It's the same as my old one, if that's okay?"

David frowned and Emma's hopeful look fell.

"I thought that you were looking at the one over there?" He asked pointing behind him at the island of the more expensive phones.

Emma stared at him blankly for a second. Lily had joked that her superpower was telling if someone was lying, it wasn't true, but she had learnt the signs of when people were lying and when they were unhappy or mad for her own survival. It took her longer than she had thought to realise that David wasn't mad, he was confused. She quickly covered up her surprise for a casual smile. "Yeah, but those are like a bazillion dollars."

David's frown disappeared and he raised an eyebrow challengingly. "So you didn't like that one?"

"Well no, I did," Emma said carefully, "but honestly all I need is a working phone with internet and a camera."

David took his hand out of his pocket and crossed his arms over his chest. He appraised for a second, then nodded his head back over his shoulder, he turned on his heel and headed back in the direction he had just nodded in, without bothering to see if Emma was following him. When he reached the phone Emma was at his side, he managed to refrain his smile at that simple action. "It's a good phone, it's the same one as me, and I think it might be like the one Neal has, so if you have any trouble with it he could help."

Emma stayed quiet, she wasn't about to turn down a free phone but this one was expensive, things like this didn't come for free, she had learnt that way too long again.

David shook his head at a shop assistant who started to walk towards them, he felt bad when he watched her face drop, but there was a war happening in Emma's eyes despite her blank face. "What's going on inside your head, kiddo?"

Emma took a slow breath. "I'm not a kiddo." She said lightly, trying to move the topic on, when David said nothing she steeled her nerves and spoke. "I'm not used to just being given things, not things like this." She slowly looked up to meet his eyes, testing him to read all the things she had left unsaid in them.

"Emma, Mary Margaret and I miss out on fifteen years, we missed out on all those birthdays and christmases and hanukkahs, the easters, the tooth fairy, even the little treats when I went to the store, _you_ missed out on a lot. I know that things like this won't completely make it up to you, I know that, but I have a lot to make up for. So, if you would let me, I would like to buy you your fifteenth birthday present a day late before I make up all the other ones." He held his gaze on her the entire time he spoke, his voice hushed but wholehearted.

Emma tore her eyes away from him and down at the floor, she bit her lip hard and tried to blink away the tears, she took a shuddering breath, aware David was still watching her. She blinked a few more times until the tears were all gone before looking up at him. She didn't trust herself to speak so she just nodded her head.

"Good." David gently placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, leaving it there until she composed herself, then reluctantly drew it away.  
What he really wanted to do was pull her in for a hug, but he had felt her tense when he and Mary had hugged her the day before and was fairly certain she wouldn't appreciate it, no matter who she was to him, he was still a stranger to her, and he knew as much as anyone that blood didn't mean a thing and that trust was an earned thing.  
"Which colour do you like best?"

Once Emma had chosen her favourite colour David called over the assistant he had sent away before, Emma stood by his side, her hand closed tightly around her phone as they were led over to some bar stools and asked to wait while they went to find the colour Emma wanted in the back.

"So." David said slowly, he turned on his stool to look at her, he placed his foot on the footrest of Emma's as she was too short to do so herself. She eyed him suspiciously and she was right to. "We were thinking about having a meal tonight at this nice restaurant we've been going to since way before you or Nee were born, a sort of happy birthday thing for you, where you can meet some of my family, our family."

Emma winced as though in pain

"I know, trust me, I do. But Mary really wanted to do something, I do too," He added careful not to undermine his co-parent, "and honestly the sooner you meet them the lower the chance of them deciding to visit unannounced, possibly subjecting you to an actual party -which you can have if you want, I didn't mean to assume-"

"- David," Emma interrupted with a slight chuckle, apparently she got the habit of rambling when finding something awkward from both Mary _and_ David, "I really _don't_ do parties, but I guess a meal will be okay, as long as it's not like a whole _thing._"

"It will be very low key, I promise. It'll be us four, Robin and Regina who you sort of met yesterday," he was very aware that she hadn't interacted much with them but hoped it was just the whole being in a new place thing, "their three kids, and my twin James with his wife and his many, many kids."

"He has a lot?"

"Well he has a step son a little younger than you, but he's basically his son, and he has twin girls, a couple of years ago they tried for one more baby and ended up with one more than they planned." He let out a little laugh knowing how his brother often tried to blame him for not having at least one set of twins while James had two. He saw Emma smile watching him laugh and he smiled back at her. "Oh, erm, one thing? Mary kind of wanted it to be a surprise for you, and I thought it would be best to warn you, but…"

"You want me to act surprised?" She guessed. He nodded looking sheepish at asking her to lie. She smirked. "Sure, I mean you're buying me an expensive phone, I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything." He told her but looked grateful.

"Okay, then you have to promise me something." She turned to fully face him. "You have to come up with an excuse for me if I need a break from it all."

David's face cracked as a large smile erupted on his face. "In that case we need a secret word, so we don't get caught."

David's smile was catching, and soon Emma was smiling as wide as David was, debating what the word should be, including one slightly macabre suggestion that it should be Emma saying she thought the hot dogs at the place were poisoned, they both cracked up both at the idea of it happening and because it there was always something special about being in the presence of someone with the same sense of humour as their own. In the end they decided it would be better for something lowkey, and that Emma would ask David to buy her a cola and she would go with him outside or to the bar.

Soon the new phone was in front of Emma, along with an extra pair of headphones and a new phone case both of which, especially the latter, David insisted she would need. She kept staring at the phone, her own had been third or fourth hand, she had never had something so expensive and so new.

She gave the woman setting up her phone her email address and account password and her new phone came to life.  
Emma's face hurt from smiling so much, had she ever smiled this much for so long? Probably not.

Once out of the store she passed it to David, instagram was downloading on the homepage and until it was done she would have to wait to message August and Lily for their details and to see where they had ended up. "Do you want to put your details in?"

Her offer was said so casually but it had David nearly crying. He had already cried many times about missing the big firsts, but now with his daughter alive, with her back, he was aware that there were so many small things he had missed too. "I would love to."

* * *

If Neal hadn't known that his mom's power was communicating with birds he would have thought that it was her ability to memorise details, particularly clothes and shoes.

Without so much as glancing at the lists she had made that morning she led him through aisle after aisle picking up shirts and jumpers, trousers, shoes, blazers with the school crest on, kits, and ties, for both him and Emma.

There were some things they couldn't just pick up but they left them til last, which was how they found themselves standing at a counter waiting for the shop assistant to go and collect things they needed from the store room. Neal could feel his mom's eyes on him, he could hear, no, _feel_ that she was about to open her mouth, the sensation of feeling something he shouldn't be able to feel was so shocking that he turn straight away, it was only when he turned that he realised that his mom was probably going to say something super embarrassing about him hitting a growth spurt. Or she'd continue fussing over him despite him telling her he probably just had a twenty-four hour thing but got through it in twelve, as he often did when he was sick.

"How are you feeling about your sister being back?"

Her question was so soft and he was already so disorientated that he wasn't sure if he imagined it or not. It was only when he soft look changed to one of worry or concern that he realised she had spoken and had mistaken his pause for hesitant.  
"I like her." He blurted out as fast as he could, too fast, his mom looked dubious so he leveled her with a look. He had always been close to his mother and his father, but his mother had always been able to read him like a book.  
"Seriously, mom, she's a bit prickly I guess, but that's just because she's scared, there's not exactly a 'yahoo answers' for how to deal with this. If I was taken from you and dad I'd have been the same as she is now, her friends were the only family she knew, cause she didn't know about us. But she's cool, and she seems nice," he thought back to her checking to make sure he was okay when they had only just met, and then to their late night snack, "we had ice cream last night."

"Last night?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep and thought I heard," he thought about telling his mom that he had heard Emma's heartbeat, but it felt wrong to worry her about something else,

"You ate ice cream at four in the morning?" her smile had changed to her look when she was about to talk about the merits of healthy eating.

Neal held his hands up in a sign of surrender as best as he could while holding several bags. "I was sick, it's allowed when you're sick!"

She muttered something which sounded like "you're your father's children", but she said it fondly that Neal beamed, acknowledging it, and Mary was smiling too. "I'm glad that you two have bonded."

There was a beat of silence where Neal stared at his mother. She had been not much older than him when she had given birth to him nearly seventeen years had passed since then and it was clear that the years since losing Emma had carried Mary Margaret differently than it would have done had they stayed a family. Neal wondered what his mom would have been like had Emma never been taken. But he stopped himself before he could wonder for too long. She wouldn't be the mom he knew, so despite it all he wouldn't want her any other way.  
"She'll open up with you too mom, and dad, she just needs a little time."

Mary Maragaret stared at her son for a minute, having to look up to him now, before she finally pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're such a sweet boy."

Neal's cheeks flushed pink, and he whined about being in public, but he didn't care really; he was a mama's boy through and through.

The assistant finally returned and rang them up at the cash register, Mary swiped her card then she and Neal took two bags each. They were about to leave when a sound rang from Mary's purse, and Neal felt a vibration against his leg from his phone in his pocket. He hooked it out of his pocket and grinned as he read the notification. He looked up and watched his mom finally finding her cell from her purse and read the screen. His smile brightened even more as he heard his mom gasp, then watched her meet his eyes and smile. He knew that on her screen like his there was a new instagram follower ' emduckling', that Emma had trusted them both enough to show them this part of her.

Neal's smile changed into a mischievous one, there was a glint in his blue eyes which made him look nearly exactly like his father used to before the years washed him out. "Don't worry mom, I'm sure she has a secret finsta." He teased. He opened the for his mom, the handle nearly slipped out of his grasp but he quickly caught it, holding it tighter than he meant to.

"Wait a _fin-ster?_ That's a secret instagram isn't it? Why would she need one of those? Do _you _have a secret instagram?" Her questions bombarded him without giving him a chance to answer as she walked through the door.

"Of _course not_, mom." He said empathically, trying his best to wind her up. As he moved his hand from the handle he saw that the metal now had grooves in the shape of a hand, _his hand_, in it.

A cold spark went down his spine.

His mom was rambling as they began to walk to the car park but he didn't hear her words, in his mind he was chanting the statistics and possibilities of him inheriting an extra power later than most teenagers, but every time he blinked he remembered the tank of water spiders and the rush of the scientists in the lab as they left for the canteen at the mere worry that one had gotten out of the tank.

* * *

That night, (after a rush to all get changed into nicer clothes during which Mary Margaret gave Emma a leather jacket as a fifteenth birthday present), they pulled up in the car park outside a row of restaurants, all of which looked like nothing Emma had ever been inside, sure she had seen them, but never anywhere near where she lived. This restaurant was a stone's throw from the brownstone and was apparently a family favourite.

There was already a large group of people outside of the restaurant and at first Emma assumed that wednesdays were particularly busy at this restaurant, but as they drew closer they all called out to them, and David and Mary greeted them back.

They were all dressed nice, Emma was suddenly very glad she had changed into the new clothes from the store she barely fit in as it was, the worn clothes she owned yesterday would have made her stick out like a sore thumb, Neal had warned her that there were a lot of them, he had even gone through a quick explanation in the car but it hadn't prepared her to actually meet them all.

She was handed gift wrapped presents and cards of various colours, so fast that she barely had time to thank them before the next one was piled on, the whole group was electric, they were all talking, and were all so clearly connected. She felt glad for Mary Margaret at her side with her arm looped through Emma's, as David took the presents from her to put into the trunk of his car, but Neal was on her otherside too so she didn't feel quite so lost.

They sat at a long table at the back of the restaurant, Emma looked around after having placed her order of a pizza with the waitress who was going around.

There was Robin and Regina who she had met the day before, both were clearly no longer in their work clothes but both had the wary looks of parents as they spoke to Mary Margaret and David. Neal had told her that they had both been involved in his childhood quite majorly, Regina had been Mary's mother's friend and had watched over Mary since Eva had died.

Robin had once been married to David's mother, he had stuck around for David and his twin James even after Ruth died.

It was so clear to Emma that James and David were close, for starters they were identical, but they also bantered and joked the same as she did with August. She felt an ache in her chest watching them and tried not to pull out her phone to check yet again for a message off either August or Lily.

James was married to Belle, they owned a bookstore together and had five kids, Gideon who had asked her if she liked minecraft, and two were sets of twins, seven year olds Emily and Aurora, who only answered to Rory, and two young babies Oscar and Max, she found out that all of their children were named after either characters or authors of books, so much was their love of books.

Regina and Robin had two sons they had adopted together, both were in their twenties Roland, and Henry, the latter who was expecting a baby with his girlfriend, Ella.

Robin also had a daughter, Rowen, who was a little late to the restaurant, who was a superhero as recognisable as her father had once been, except she was from a different version of this world, where her father died when she was a baby, and her mother was Regina's sister. Emma was careful to get the details of this correct so she could factually show Lily and August how crazy the family was.

But all in all… they were normal. And loud, and smiling, all of them smiled constantly, it wasn't just for show either, all of them had bright sparkling eyes, and they were laughing with one another, and not about her.

They were all nice too, genuinely nice, even if she gave them short prickly answers, or didn't know what to say other than a quick 'thanks' when Rowen said that she was always around if Emma needed some tips on adjusting to the family, or if she ever wanted a ride to the mall or something.

Emma was very careful to engage in conversations with all of them, feeling both Mary and David watching her closely, evaluating her, while not giving too much away to these strangers, no matter how kind they seemed.

* * *

Emma watched as Neal got involved talking to Robin, he wanted to know more about superheroes, Emma could join in - it wasn't a closed secret conversation - both Roland and Gideon were clearly interested, as well as one of James's girl twins, but it was almost guaranteed to result in someone asking if she had a power, if she said no then they would find it strange, it was very unlike for a child of two powered people, and Mary and David did had quite strong powers, to have a powerless child. But if she said she had one she would be asked what it was, pestered into giving a demonstration, and if she lied that it was a smaller one she would force _herself_ into giving a show of it, and she would be revealed to be a liar. No it was safer to stay out of that.

She looked to where Rowan had been sitting but found her chair empty, having left to take a phone call, so she was out.  
James and Belle were trying to get the other girl twin to eat the last of her dinner while standing and rocking or swaying a boy twin each to stop them from crying. No chance she was getting involved in that.  
Mary's conversation about education and school with Robin, Regina and David, she wasn't going to get involved with that either, she wasn't a bad student, she was just more of a part time attendee, at best.

She felt the noise of the restaurant crushing her as she was filled with uncertainty, should she sit there quietly? Should she go on her phone? Should she try and join in the conversation without somehow making herself suspicious. The problem with living in a new house or Home was that the rules were always so unclear in the early days, no more so than this house, David and Mary who were treating her so kindly that the limits were unguessable, and she never knew what the punishment would be. She stuffed her hand into her pocket, the new denim was rigid and uncomfortably tight still, but she felt a little calmer. Neither Lily or August had text her back, but she didn't really expect it until later when they were both in bed, they would have more time then so that they could really talk.

Then she heard a voice breaking against the mashup of everyone else's. She looked up from where she had been staring at her empty plate and felt hands on her chair, she looked back and saw David stood grinning encouragingly down at her. Ah, he must have said her name and that was why she had focused on his voice. Had he asked her something? She scanned her mind trying to figure out what it could have been.

"I was just going to get another drink from the bar, do you want a soda or a coke or something?" He interrupted her thoughts with his casual question but his blue eyes bore into her asking another question, was she okay?

She looked at her glass and was relieved to find it was empty. She picked it up and stood up. "I think I'll come with you. I would like a coke." She followed him to the bar and handed over her glass as David ordered two sodas.

"You looked like you could do with a breather." He told her, leaning back against the bar so he could look at her.

His gaze was soft and understanding and Emma found herself wanting to tell him the truth, but that was impossible, it would require too much explaining. "Everyone was talking but none of the conversations were really for me." She tried to keep her explanation as close to the truth as possible.

David slowly nodded. He had heard the conversations and knew that they didn't require inside jokes or anything, which meant they either didn't interest her, or she was actively trying to avoid talking about herself. Either was possible, he knew that they had only spent one day with Emma, and most of that was focused on a task of buying stuff. It made sense that Emma might be feeling more reserved now that things were more personal. "I'm sorry." He told her without a hint of sarcasm. "Hey, how about we get some desserts? My treat."

Emma smiled glad and relieved that he hadn't quizzed her. "Sounds good, I love desserts."

"Me too." David was beaming again. "So does your brother and mother, though they prefer things with fruit in them."

"Fruit and vegetables in cake is blasphemy." She told him in such a serious tone that they both had to laugh.

* * *

Emma had been one of the first to finish her dessert, a chocolate lava cake with ice cream, which hadn't surprised her, how she had grown up she had learnt to inhale her food or hide it away before it could be taken from her. The other fastest was one of the girl twins, Rory, who started to tell her all about her school and how she was on the track team, when Emma told her that she had been on the track team when she was younger too the girl had immediately taken to Emma, Emma found she didn't mind, the girl was a tomboy which gave them some common ground to talk about.

* * *

Desserts finally eaten Emma expected them to begin to make a move to all split up and head home.

That was when the whole restaurant fell into silence and a large cake was placed in front of Emma.

She felt a prickle on her skin as the soft orange light from the lit candles started to warm her face. Fire was always one of the worst things for her powers, anything which was purely elemental was, she didn't know why and she didn't particularly care, all she knew is that she could _feel_ all the atoms fizzing together as they tried their best to escape their shape, her skin crawled with the ache of wanting to hold her hands out and control them, to shape them, to change the fire in some way.

She clenched her fists tight, taking a deep breath, then slowly released it being careful not to blow the candles out, she unclenched her fists as slowly as she released her breath.

It was only then that she realised the whole table, of these strangers she had as a family, were singing to her. No, not just them, the whole restaurant had stopped their meal to join in the slow song, faltering when it came to sing her age, but the table she was sat with easily made up for their quiet mumblings by singing her name loud and proud.

Her cheeks were on fire now and not from the fire but actual embarrassment. Her eyes met Neal's across the table. They shared a look and Emma knew he was thinking about begging her to give this all a go, to give their parents a chance, as they ate ice cream the night before.

Her eyes flickered to David, beaming beside Neal with his phone in his hand taking pictures as he sang, Mary was squeezed up to his side trying to find a good angle for a photograph as she did the same. This singing, the cake in the restaurant, the overtness of it all, this wasn't for her, not really, it was for them. And Emma surprised herself to find that she didn't mind that.

Emma didn't know what to wish for. But she remembered Lily's chiding that wishes weren't meant to be said out loud, she closed her eyes and made a wish.

* * *

Emma led on her bed on her back, the room was dark and the light came from the phone she held in the air above her face, the light flickered ever so slightly as she scrolled.

She had given out her instagram to the rest of the Nolan/ Mills/ Hood family that night, Neal, David, and Mary already had it so it seemed pointless to claim she didn't have it or to not give it to Rowen when asked. She didn't have many photos on her own, she hadn't had it for long, not this account anyway, when she moved she tended to make a new one, and she had moved a lot. She still had a couple of people from Metrocity, people she hadn't been friends with but had talked to in a few classes.

She scrolled without paying much attention, until she hit Neal's post, it was a simple one he had taken of her blowing her candles out, it said simply 'Happy Birthday to my sister emduckling'. It felt so weird to see the words calling her family. She had Lily and August; they were her small yet constant family, even when they were split up. But now she was also part of something bigger, messier, something which felt like sunlight, compared to her surrogate family's moonlight.

She didn't know if she wanted nothing to do with them, it wasn't their fault they hadn't known her, but they still hadn't, or if she wanted to embrace it, to know them as well as they knew each other. There was always a little bit of every foster kid who craved to be part of a family, no matter how much they claimed not to, Emma was no exception.

If Neal's post hit a nerve then Mary and David's ,heartfelt yet just as simple posts of near identical photos to the one Neal posted, were jackhammers into her nerves. She pressed on David's instagram, and then Mary's, and sure enough every October 22nd they posted a photograph, the same one for each of them every year, of them holding a baby, and wishing her happy birthday, David's wished her peace, while Mary wished she would come home.

Alone in her dark room, with unpacked bags and boxes of clothes, shoes, and room decor, she felt her eyes start to swell with tears.

It had been a long and exhausting day. It had been a long and exhausting week. It had been a long and exhausting year.

She allowed herself a small cry, a silent cry, before scrubbing her sweatshirt sleeve against her face wiping all trace of it.

There was a beep on her phone and when she pressed the notification she found herself on a group chat with August and Lily. She burrowed herself underneath her bed covers and began to talk to them, for the first time that night she felt as though she could breathe.


	9. Chapter 9

**Neal becomes aware of some more of the changes to his body**

**a/n marvel dont sue me for ripping off spiderman, you will end up disappointed as I have no money or possessions, so dont waste your time**

**Also holllly shit another chapter so quickly? I know, truly a miracle**

* * *

Two days later Neal stood on the subway train again.

He pulled his phone out when he got to the Norwood stop, he sent a message to PJ then slipped his phone back into his pocket. He tipped his head back, taking a slow breath, his eyes closed. His music was playing loud through his earbuds, drowning out the noise from the commuters, it didn't stop the slightly sweaty and stale smell of the subway, but he could lose himself for a minute.

The subway had been hard. His senses had seemed to increase after that first night when he heard Emma's heart beating through the house, it wasn't the first time it had happened, all the noise and everything at Emma's birthday meal had been nearly impossible.  
He found himself drinking a lot of soda in order to say he needed to go to the toilet, an excuse for a small prelude of silence before being emerged into it again.

The next couple of days were better, there was the noise of two extra people in the house, he found that if he tried hard enough he could blank it out, but it was tiring.  
He had of course thought about telling his parents about it, after all it was pretty worrying that he could now hear more than he had before, and then there were the other bits: his desk drawer had gotten stuck and he had pulled the front of it off as he tried to yank it open. But he could hear and see how stressed his parents were, Emma wasn't exactly opening up to them and they tried not to let it get to them but it must be hard. They had spent the past couple of days putting together furniture and moving the old baby things out. He had heard his dad suggesting hiring a skip to take them, after that there was a hushed row in the kitchen while he and Emma pretended not to hear it, the baby stuff ended up in the attic and David had ended up working in his room for most of the evening and his mom had gone quiet.

Even without hearing the announcement Neal knew he was drawing up to his stop, it was muscle memory now, both the sub routes to and from his mom's house and his dad's condo. He slowly opened his eyes and moved towards the door, he hopped out alongside some others from his school as soon as the doors opened.

The cold air hit his face like a steel wall, but he braced himself, his hands holding onto the straps of his backpack which he wore, then started to head down the platform.

He heard the shouting even through the music playing into his ears. He yanked them out and turned just as PJ reached him.  
"Peej, what are you doing here?" Neal asked, there was an amused smile on his face as he took in PJ's breathlessness and the fact his face was slightly red, and if Neal was not mistaken there were even a few beads of sweat forming at the line where his hair and forehead met.

"Oh, I was in the area." The boy shrugged, he took a look and Neal's face and could tell that his best friend hadn't believed a word of it. The truth was he had been near to school when he got Neal's text that he was coming into school. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd be able to get out of this with, y'know, everything that's been going on?"

"You mean with my sister rising from the dead?" Neal asked good humouredly. "Mom and dad both offered to get me out of it, but I had already studied for it, and I've gotta keep my position as number one student in chemistry anyway." He smirked, nudging PJ with his shoulder, they began the walk to school.

"You're on."

PJ's smile was the winning one which had many girls in the school swooning, particularly if they saw him give it in his lacrosse kit, but PJ was never interested in any of them. He walked side by side next to Neal as they walked through the tunnel, as they got to the end they emerged above ground once more, they walked down the sidewalk and into the school. PJ grabbed his pass from his pocket before Neal could even think about rummaging through his backpack for his.

"You're pretty…" PJ trailed off squinting as he tried to figure out the right way to put it.

"Dishevelled?" Neal suggested.

"I'm not saying it's not a good look on you," PJ teased, "it's just not normally what you're like."

He didn't ask, he didn't pry, he didn't pressure, so Neal told him the truth, or as much of it as he could admit to anyone including himself.  
"It's just weird having my mom and dad in the same house, I swear it's weirder than Emma being home." They were fairly early but it was a competitive school and so there were more than a few people milling around in the corridors, Neal could feel their eyes on him as he passed, the news about Emma being home was well and truly out. He felt PJ's arm slung over his shoulder and he didn't shrug it off. It was grounding. "Like my dad's got all his stuff in the spare room and he'll be fine but then he'll go and grab something from the kitchen but he'll go into the wrong cupboard and then look really lost and down for a while."

"My dad was the same when he came to our house to look after me when mom and Mulan were in the hospital when Rosie was being born, everything had moved, it was like him fully realising it wasn't his home anymore."

Neal nodded his head slowly, a sick feeling grew in his stomach, his parents had been divorced for years but he suddenly realised that he didn't want his dad to not think of their home as his home too. "Emma's pretty cool though." He said, changing the conversation.

"She is?"

"Yeah." He nodded again. "She's a bit," he shrugged his shoulders, "she doesn't really talk about her past much, she's a bit closed off I guess. Mom and dad keep checking on her, I think they think she might disappear."

"That she'll run off?" PJ's interest peaked.

"No, yeah, I don't know, maybe? I guess she has form for doing it, but I think they're more worried about her just magically disappearing."

"Weirder things have happened in your family."

"True." Neal let out a small laugh. "She shouted at them for doing it last night, I think it all just built up, to be honest I don't really blame her." He hadn't liked seeing his mom and dad looking hurt but Emma wasn't used to parents and sometimes they could be hoverparents. "They even offered me a ride to school."

"Why didn't you take it?" They had finally made it to their classroom, they leant on the wall outside of it, side by side, they had some time before their teacher would even get there.

Neal sent him an amused smile, PJ was always offering him lifts, as were his mother, and his father, and pretty much anyone else he knew with a car. He rarely took them up on their offers. "You know I prefer taking the subway."

There was an amused sparkle in PJ's eyes as he nodded his head and smiled fondly at his best friend's quirk. "Yeah I know, you prefer to listen to music."

* * *

The day's first few periods passed in quick succession, Neal felt quietly confident about how well he had done on the chemistry test, his french class was boring but manageable, and his english class was truly where he shone, they were studying Hamlet and he knew the play inside and out.

He was heading out of the classroom when he saw PJ leaning on the corridor wall waiting for him. "Are you stalking me?" He asked, walking over to him anyway.

"Sure Nee, I'm stalking you." He laughed. "So you know how we now have free periods for the rest of the day?"

"You know those are meant for us to study in, right?" He narrowed his eyes already suspecting why PJ was bringing this up.

"Come on, you promised you'd do a training session in the gym with me. It'll help improve your swimming, and it'll be empty because everyone's in class, so it'll be just us. Please Nee?"

Neal let out a loud groan as he looked into PJ's honey brown eyes. "Fine." He grumbled reluctantly. "But we're leaving before your team gets there at lunch."

"Cross my heart." He did the appropriate action as he said it.

* * *

"Damn Nee, have you been working out without me?" PJ was putting on a fake offended look which made Neal roll his eyes but he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Oh yeah, you know me, I'm always hitting the gym." He told his friend sarcastically as he pushed the weights high above him and back onto the bar before sitting up.

While it was true that Neal had outshone any of his past records on the treadmill, the bikes, and now on the weights, on the rare occasion he would agree to go to the gym with PJ, what his friend didn't know was that Neal was holding back.

He had told PJ nearly everything in his life, he had known him since they were babies, together at both mommy and me and daddy and me groups, he had gone on even more playdates during the years between Emma's disappearance and 'finding her bones', and again when Philip's and Neal's parents were divorcing.

But this felt raw, off limits even to himself, he knew that one day soon he would be forced to examine what the hell was happening himself, he wanted to understand it before he tried to explain it to PJ, to anyone. Which meant he would have to hide it as much as possible while simultaneously testing himself.

"Seriously though," PJ chucked him a towel as he spoke, "it's impressive, how'd you do it?"

Due to the lack of any actual strain Neal hadn't sweated, but he used wiping his face with the towel to hide his face. "I guess my dad's genes are finally coming through." He chuckled, making PJ laugh along with him, the curiosity, and what Neal was fairly certain had been concern, was now gone.

"Okay, come on." PJ held out his hand towards his friend, there was a second of hesitancy, PJ could see the suspicion on Neal's face, PJ just smiled and Neal took his hand, allowing him to pull him up.

"What are you up to?" Neal asked slowly when they had been standing there for a second just looking at each other. As soon as he spoke PJ dropped his hand, and Neal swore he hadn't even realised they were still touching each other.

"Follow me."

And much to Neal's regret, he did.

* * *

"No. No, no way."

"Oh come on Nee!"

"Peej _you're_ the jock in this friendship."

"You're on the swim team."

"Only because of my power, you're on the lacrosse team, you have all of your dude friends- I literally tried to live in a library when I was seven."

"I know, I was there with you." He locked eyes with Neal.

Neal sighed and let his eyes travel to the huge room behind Philip.

The room had been erected a year after the school had first opened, it was funded by a superhero who it was rumoured to have caused considerable property damage to the school's benefactor's own house, and Neal knew for a fact that she had babysat his father when he was a kid.  
The room was a huge obstacle course, most of it was up off of the ground, it had bars and rings to swing off and across, ramps like those in a skate park were scattered around the room, it essentially looked like a Ninja Warrior course which had been made to look like a city.  
It was an optional part of phys ed classes to run the obstacle course, and every year nearly every single person in each class would try to complete it, more often than not failing. Neal had tried it twice once when he was a freshman and once when he was a sophomore, he had failed both times, the second time he had sprained his ankle and hadn't tried it again.

But now… well now he wasn't sure what he could do, his senses and strength had improved, what else had. And what better time than now? No one was around to witness it, other than PJ, and PJ really wanted him to join in, and whenever PJ looked disappointed it felt like a small knife to the heart.

"_One time_." He held up his finger as he said it as sternly as he could, he knew for a fact that he was doing a pretty good impression of his mother, but at least PJ didn't point that out.

"Yes!" Neal happily clapped him on the back and bounded towards the start line.

Neal sighed, what the hell was he getting himself into?

When he finally joined his best friend PJ was typing on the tablet pack, as he did some of the obstacles began to move ever so slightly.

"I've put it on one of the easier settings, I can turn it to stationary, if you like?"

Neal's annoyance faded to a fond smile at how worried PJ was at overstepping his limits. "It's fine, if I break my leg I'll just blame you." He smirked. "You owe me for this, you know, Star Wars and Lego marathon at mine this weekend?"

PJ's worry eased and that electric smile appeared back on his face, it was a chilly fall day but Neal felt as warmed as he did in the height of summer.

"Are you sure it'll be okay? Your parents haven't got some family bonding weekend planned?"

Neal laughed but paused. "Better make it Sunday, I think Emma will have dashed my parent's hopes by then." He tried to say it as lightly as he could but it was hard not to sound slightly dejected on his parents' behalfs. But PJ must have noticed the slight change in his tone as he felt his friend's hand on the back of his neck, it was gently squeezed in an attempt to comfort him. The two had always been pretty comfortable with physical contact but Neal had noticed it a lot more recently, and he didn't mind it one bit.

But before Neal could overthink the contact the hand was pulled away again.

PJ explained his idea to Neal, the plan, that PJ would set off first, the course would keep track of where his feet fell and his time, thirty seconds after Neal would set off on his own run.

Neal readied himself, he wasn't completely unathletic, but as he told PJ he preferred books and nerdy things, and he wasn't ashamed of that in the slightest. He watched PJ set off, his eyes on the other boy then on the tablet counting up the time.

Neal waited a little over thirty seconds before taking off.

He had never felt quite so good when he had run, he made short work of some of the smaller challenges before agilely climbing up walls, he didn't even glance at the footholds, and he could have sworn that he missed some of them, but he stayed stuck.

He had gone to gymnastics classes when he was younger, it was part of his parents intentions to get him out of his head and to meet new people, and it worked, and he had become fairly agile, but this seemed to be on a different level, as he leapt from platform to platform.

He looked down at his feet out of habit or instinct or _something_, but he forgot to tell his body not to jump. He didn't jump far enough.

He was going to fall, they were at least twelve feet in the air, this was going to hurt, and Neal was fairly certain that despite the cushioned floor he was going to end up with a broken hand or wrist or something at the very least.

His hand outstretched towards the other podium he had been trying to jump to, he was nowhere near it, it couldn't save him. He squeezed his eyes shut waiting for impact.

He was falling, falling, n…. Not… falling?

His eyes flew open, and he realised he was flying too.

Okay so maybe not flying, there was some string thing coming out of his hand?!

He let out what was an undistinguished noise somewhere between a yep and a scream, he pulled his hand away and the sting, web?, fell away, he realised he was about to fall again and punched out his other hand, the same material spurted out of his wrist at the platform. It was painless as he swung, landing on his feet on the platform, despite the fact that it came from under his skin.

He stood perfectly still staring at his wrist, the web, and it _was_ a web, fell to the floor and disappeared like dust.

Then he began to run, the only way out was through the course, but he was running on adrenaline and god knows what else.

His sneakered feet slapped against the wooden planks as he raced in the track to the finishing line, PJ was there, he was smiling, but his smile quickly fell and his face changed as Neal didn't stop.

* * *

He slammed open the door as he ran out of the obstacle course room, down the corridor until he was inside the pool changing room.

His kit bag was always in his locker there, one of the privileges of being on the swim team, and he just about had the presence of mind to change into his trunks before throwing himself into the empty pool.

The pool was cold as he launched himself into the middle of the pool. It chilled his bones but it also calmed him. Breathing underwater was always his power even from a very young age, it was second nature. But when he did that he would breathe in the water as though it was oxygen. This time when he jumped into the pool somehow he brought a bubble of air down with him as he sunk to the bottom.

"What's happening to me?" His voice broke as he asked himself the question, he was completely alone in the room, and in the world, he felt so helpless, he was nearly seventeen but he felt as though he was seven again.

He wanted his mom, he wanted his dad, he wanted PJ, and Emma, his cousins and step aunts and uncles, he wanted anyone, anyone to tell him that it was okay, that it was going to be fine. But how could he put this upon anyone else?

Was he a superhero now? He didn't want to be a superhero, he wanted to pass eleventh grade. He wasn't a hero.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, cross legged on the bottom of the pool, but eventually the adrenaline wore off and his muscles and bones began to ache from all the working out before he had freaked out.

He felt calmer, a lot calmer, the water always did that for him. He took a slow breath in, then pushed himself back up.

The first thing he noticed was that despite being under the surface for so long his hair was completely dry, so he hadn't imagined the air bubble protecting him. The second thing he noticed was the clock on the wall, he winced knowing a class would soon be here. It was only as he climbed out of the pool that he realised that he wasn't alone. PJ was there, he was holding a towel, PJ's own towel.

Neal walked towards him PJ wrapped it around him like a cape, like they used to play as children, but he kept hold of it even when it was around Neal, he was holding onto the towel keeping Neal with him, they were so close Neal swore he could feel PJ's spearmint scented breath on him.

"Nee..."

PJ's voice was quiet, his face unsmiling, unguarded, and a mix between worried and pensive, it was a rare look on PJ, and Neal found that he loved that secret face PJ kept hidden from the rest of the world.

"What's going on?"

"Huh?" Neal was jerked back to reality and found himself confused.

PJ let go of the towel and stood back a little, his posture stiffened, there was no smile on his face but the vulnerability crackling through his brown eyes had faded to normal confusion. "You just ran out on me and then sat on the floor of the swimming pool for half an hour. What's going on? You looked like you saw a ghost, did something happen? Did _I _do something?" He looked considerably more worried when he asked if it was his fault.

"No, no, of course not." Neal reached out and squeezed PJ's arm, it made it a little wet but he didn't seem to even notice. "I just nearly slipped and it freaked me out a bit." It wasn't a lie, not completely, but Neal still felt bad.

There was a pause as PJ evaluated Neal, who was scrubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, PJ finally let out a laugh. "You scared me man, you know some junior nearly jumped in to save you? I stopped them, told them you could breathe, I'm not sure if they believed me but they were clearly willing to risk it."

PJ's good humour left a sour taste in Neal's mouth as guilt worried his stomach, but it was also a relief, Neal let out a snort. "Well better to lose me than to upset the captain of the lacrosse team." He joked, giving PJ a playful shove.

"I'd have saved you." PJ's smirk was missing some of the cocky heat and which made it come out somewhat solemn.

But Neal's mind was on the bubble he had _somehow_ formed under the water. It dawned on him why the person must have thought he was drowning. It was the same reason why when he was a small child his parents had always panicked when he was swimming trying to reach the bottom of the water, with no bubbles yet a lot of splashing.  
"How could you tell? I don't make bubbles."

"I would know." PJ replied, his whole heart in his words.

They were silent again, for a minute, for two minutes, for enough minutes that they were teetering on the beginnings of something else, something_ more_. There was the sound of younger kids, bursting into the room on the other side of the pool, excited chatter and a teacher yelling them not to run.

Neal sucked in a breath and PJ took another step back, Neal could practically feel the distance between them, as though releasing the pressure against a balloon. He felt an ache inside of him.

And like that the moment was completely over.

* * *

The rest of the day went like a blur to Neal, they both took showers, then moved to join the rest of their friends for lunch. They had afternoon classes, and there were conversations, and inside jokes, and food, but Neal missed all of it. He was there, physically, of course, but he felt as though he was watching a movie where the audio wasn't quite synced, he felt delayed, his mind on himself instead of on his art teacher or his friends. He covered it up well.

He had not covered it well.

The final bell had rung and he was just heading back from the changing rooms with his swim stuff in his bag, he had grabbed PJ's towel too he could wash it and return it, he knew his best friend's schedule as well as his own, PJ didn't have practice that night, it was his day to pick up his sister from kindergarten as his mom and step mom would be working.

But as soon as he made it back to the main building his shadow had returned.

"If you don't tell me what's going on I'm not going to give you my commentary during our Star Wars marathon."

Neal didn't even turn his head, but he did smirk. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Hey!" PJ protested his fake hurt was ruined by his chuckle. He pulled Neal to a stop, using his arm he swung him around to face him. PJ was grinning his wild, electric, smile. "You love my commentary."

"Sure I do, bud." Neal shot for sarcasm but fell just short, he too was grinning.

"So… What's going on, and don't say that nothing is, I _know_ you, I know something's wrong, please tell me? Please?"

"I…" Neal looked around helplessly as though looking for something to save him, all he could find was the trophy cabinets, Neal knew there were some swim team photographs of him, and many of PJ, he had looked at them often enough. He couldn't lie to him, he couldn't think of one, and PJ was so concerned that it was breaking him. He was going to tell him, the bite, the increased speed and agility, the air bubble under the water, the web coming from his wrists, that spider, that bite.

"Hey, isn't that your folks?" PJ's voice had brightened up once again and even before Neal turned to look at him he knew he would find a smile on his friends face.

"What?"  
He followed PJ's pointed finger towards the entrance where sure enough Mary and David were talking to the headteacher, Emma was stood between them, she was wearing the leather jacket she had worn any time she had to go outside, and what looked like the red plaid shirt she had been wearing for the past two day, he was sure that his mom didn't like that.  
"Oh, crap, yeah. I forgot." He was feeling a little confused, a feeling he was getting used to recently, he walked over to his family with PJ hot on his heels.

Emma looked miserable, or annoyed, or something of the like, Neal didn't have a clear read on her yet. He walked over, it wasn't too weird to see his parents together, after all they had been living together for the past few days, and they tried to come to his swim meets which meant they ended up sitting together, and any academic award ceremonies. But in this context it was so disjointed to see.

The head teacher looked up, Mrs McNally, she was doing her winning smile she did when there were guest speakers at the school or she was giving an assembly on the success of the school. No doubt intent on fully winning over all of them, particularly Mary and David. "Ah, I'm sure you know one of our student councillors, Philip, he and your brother are rarely apart.

Neal could feel people staring as they passed on their way home, their eyes prickling his skin, he stiffened.

PJ held out his hand to Emma with an easy smile, she looked confused and wrinkled her nose ever so slightly at it, but he had done it in such a casual way that she actually took it and shook it. "I go by PJ. We haven't met but Nee's told me about you." There was no idealisation and no demonetisation in his tone or his look, no expectations or warnings.

"We were just picking up some stuff for Emma to catch up with the rest of her peers." Mary Margaret told the boys, she looked so proud every time she said Emma's name. Neal would have been jealous had his mom not looked the same way every time she said his name.

"We were also just about to go on a tour of the school," David added, "then we have some paperwork to sign, if you both stick around we can drop you off home PJ."

Emma had looked so uncomfortable at the idea of going on a tour with this teacher and Mary and David that Neal felt suddenly bad for going to school and leaving her stranded with their parents, her strangers. "We'll take her."

"Pardon?"

"I mean," Neal's confidence wavered ever so slightly again but he bolstered himself, "PJ and I are official tour guides, we can show her around while you guys sort out paperwork and stuff, I'm sure Em's sick of having to watch paperwork being signed." He addressed the latter part to his parents. He watched them share a look before nodding.

"Meet us back here in twenty, kids." David told them.

Neal could see the worry in his eyes which he tried to hide when his eyes flickered to Emma, then quickly away, at least that was something his parents had in common - they were terrified to let Emma out of their sights.  
"Sorry about that, I thought it was probably the only way to get them to leave."

"It's fine." Emma brushed off quickly. Then shared a smile with him when he didn't just carry on. "_Really_ Neal. Thanks for getting them to give me a quick breather."

"Anytime." He stopped himself from adding sis or something of the like to the end, they weren't there yet. "You ready for the tour?"

"We're _really_ doing that? I thought you were just getting me out of having to spend time with your hoverparents."

"They're your hoverparents too." Neal shot back, with a smirk.

"Don't worry, we'll give you the actual essential tour of where to get pizza and coffee and stuff like that." PJ added wanting to make a good impression on his best friend's sister.

"You just became my new favourite person."

* * *

a/n shameless promotion : 

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on tumblr - loboselinaistrash (general) loboselinafanfiction (ouat one) I also made a wecouldbeheroesfic tumblr which doesnt have any posts in yet but will end up having fake social media posts from characters in the verse

twitter - loboselinaff

my instagram is loboselina (i clearly have a brand going) feel free to watch me pretending to me productive on there


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